High water content of arc magmas recorded in cumulates from subduction zone lower crust

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 26 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00947-wThe water content of arc magmas in the lower crust can reach up to 20 wt% during crystallization, according to geochemical analyses of minerals from the Kohistan palaeo-arc, Pakistan, underscoring the role of water in porphyry deposits formation.

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High water content of arc magmas recorded in cumulates from subduction zone lower crust

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Low surface strength of the asteroid Bennu inferred from impact ejecta deposit

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 23 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00937-yObservations of deposits associated with a crater on the rubble-pile asteroid Bennu indicate a surface with low strength that is readily reworked by impact processes.

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Alignment of fractures on Bennu’s boulders indicative of rapid asteroid surface evolution

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 23 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00940-3Fractures on the asteroid Bennu imaged by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft are consistent with cracking induced by diurnal temperature variations over geologically rapid timescales.

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A weak and active surface of Bennu

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 23 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00949-8The surface of the asteroid Bennu is so weakly bonded that rockslide avalanches are easily triggered by small body impacts, and boulders fractured due to diurnal heating and cooling are readily dislodged. The result is a surface under continuous renewal.

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A weak and active surface of Bennu

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Low surface strength of the asteroid Bennu inferred from impact ejecta deposit

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Alignment of fractures on Bennu’s boulders indicative of rapid asteroid surface evolution

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Global cycling and climate effects of aeolian dust controlled by biological soil crusts

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 16 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00942-1Biocrusts reduce global atmospheric dust emission by 60%, and future biocrust losses due to climate and land-use changes will exacerbate this effect, according to global models of dust cycling.

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Biological soil crusts play a key role in current and future global dust cycling

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 16 May 2022; doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00943-0This study shows that by stabilizing the soil, biological soil crusts reduce global atmospheric dust emissions by 60%, corresponding to ~700 Tg of dust per year. According to models of biocrust cover loss, this effect will be reduced in the future, leading to increases in...

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