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Geodynamics refers to the processes by which mantle convection shapes and reshapes the Earth and other rocky planets. Its study includes plate tectonics, volcanism, the chemistry of lava and volcanic rocks, gravity and geomagnetic anomalies as well as seismic investigations into the structure of the mantle.
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
The Moon’s primordial solidification is believed to have produced a layer of dense ilmenite cumulates beneath the crust. Remnants of this layer have now been detected under the lunar nearside.
Cassini tracking data yield a lower Love number for Titan than previous analysis. This result is compatible with a low-density internal ocean that might consist of a mix of water and ammonia.
Strike-slip motion along the tiger stripe fracture zones of Enceladus may act to modulate quasi-periodic jet activity, according to finite-element simulations of diurnal tidal deformation on the moon’s icy shell.
Using ice sheet model and glacio-isostatic adjustment model simulations and paleoclimate proxies, this work demonstrates that the most likely cause of past West Antarctic grounding-line reversal was a regime shift from a warm to cold ocean cavity.
The regional geodynamic gradient controls metamorphic carbon release during mountain building and regulates the inorganic carbon budget, according to carbon estimates in two river catchments of Italy’s central Apennines.
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
Nature Geoscience spoke with Samantha Hansen, a geophysicist at the University of Alabama and Sebastian Rost, a global seismologist at the University of Leeds about the ultralow velocity zones in the lowermost mantle.
Advances in seismological observational and modelling techniques are needed to constrain complex lowermost mantle structures and understand their influence on the global dynamics and evolution of Earth’s interior.
The Moon’s primordial solidification is believed to have produced a layer of dense ilmenite cumulates beneath the crust. Remnants of this layer have now been detected under the lunar nearside.
Through the detection of postcursors of shear waves diffracted at the core–mantle boundary, a zone of ultralow seismic velocities has been identified at the base of the mantle beneath the Himalayas. The presence of this zone is probably linked to a subducted slab remnant that is driving mantle flow in the region.