Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), which include seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangrove and supratidal forests, hold large reservoirs of organic carbon. Despite the impact of BCEs as natural climate solutions, the mechanisms responsible for carbon retention have not been clearly summarised, limiting our chance to manage BCEs for maximum carbon storage. Here, we explore a great mystery of the blue

Inherited fabrics in all rifts can be broadly viewed as affecting different scales of features in particular: regional rift location, rift mode, boundary faults and secondary faults. In rifts developed in relatively cold lithosphere (e.g. East African Rift) inherited fabrics are predominantly old (Precambrian), widely separated in time from rifting. Rift location is strongly linked to where lithospheric

High‑iodine groundwater poses a severe threat to the health of millions of people worldwide, especially in China. Understanding iodine mobilization in aquifers is crucial for sustainable exploitation of groundwater resources. In this Review, we summarize the spatial distribution characteristics of high‑iodine groundwater across China, elucidate the sources and hosts of iodine, and discuss the hydrogeological

The European Ground Motion Service (EGMS), a component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, offers a valuable tool for investigating vertical ground motion in coastal regions that are subject to different natural and anthropogenic processes. To conduct effective coastal assessments, it is essential to consider the multiscale interactions of these processes. This review presents a methodology

During rifting, the continental crust is usually thinned from its initial thickness to ca. 10 km over only a few million years. The mechanisms of this so-called necking phase are incompletely understood, and yet they have major implications on the structural, thermal and isostatic evolution of rift systems. One major difficulty in studying the necking phase arises from its transient character in the

The Tekturmas Fold-and-Thrust Belt (TFTB) is an important structure of the Kazakhstan Orocline in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), which formation is linked with the early-middle Paleozoic evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO). The TFTB includes accreted oceanic sediments and magmatic rocks, supra-subduction ophiolites and fore-arc and back-arc siliciclastic rocks of Cambrian to Silurian

The 4.2 ka event (∼4300–3900 yr BP), marking the boundary of the middle-late Holocene and the onset of the Meghalayan stage, is traditionally associated with global megadroughts and significant social changes. However, debates continue with respect to its spatial distribution (worldwide versus regional), hydroclimatic change (drying versus wetting), and driving mechanism (North Atlantic versus Pacific

Microbial mineralization of calcium carbonate is a significant geological and environmental process that provides insights into the evolution of life, ancient environments, and biogeochemical cycling of elements. This manuscript thoroughly examines the factors influencing the formation of different calcium carbonate polymorphs induced by bacteria and their implications in various engineering applications

The Bangong-Nujiang suture zone (BNSZ) is located in the central Tibetan Plateau and represents the remnants of the Permian-Cretaceous Bangong-Nujiang Neo-Tethyan ocean (BNTO). Reconstructing the BNTO's evolution is crucial for understanding the accretionary history of the constituent blocks of the Tibetan Plateau prior to Cenozoic India-Asia collision. This paper reviews Mesozoic magmatism in the

The cause of the Yanshanian movement in eastern China has been highly debated, since its initial proposal one hundred years ago. During the Yanshanian movement, transient, widespread intracontinental contractions (e.g., major regional stratigraphic unconformities, folding and thrusting) occurred at ca. 170 Ma, 140 Ma and 100 Ma. The contractions alternated with 20-30 Myr periods of intense continental

Ground surface vertical deformation in permafrost regions encompasses seasonal fluctuations in hydrothermal properties within the active layer and the long-term ground ice change near the permafrost table, serving as a crucial “window” for permafrost observation. This review summarizes research progress regarding deformation in the permafrost region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), highlighting

Microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial environments are an emerging contaminant of high concern to ecosystems and human health. However, our understanding of the MPs' fate, particularly their transport within soils, remains elusive. This knowledge gap arises from the multiplicity of coupled physical, chemical and biological processes and parameters affecting MPs transport, together with the scarcity of

Phytoliths are plant born opal-A amorphous silica bodies that form in living foliar tissues. They return to soil within plant debris and are considered by biogeochemists and soil scientists as an important source of dissolved silicon (DSi) in the soil-plant system due to their relatively high dissolution rate. However, they are also used in other disciplines as microfossils to reconstruct paleoenvironments

Leaf cuticle is the waxy envelope that protects leaves from desiccation, UV damage, and abrasion. The cuticle encodes information about a plant's chemistry and leaf epidermal and stomatal cell morphology. Fossil leaf cuticle has been used to determine taxonomic affinities for almost two centuries and recognized in recent decades for its value in reconstructing paleoenvironments and paleoclimates, especially

Understanding soil chronology and evolution processes is fundamental for forecasting soil development and implementing effective conservation and management strategies. However, traditional quantitative methods that rely on radiogenic isotopic dating of secondary soil components (such as humus and pedogenic carbonates) often yield unreliable results due to soil's nature as an open system, where elemental

Identification of ecologic diversification patterns and their correlation with relevant ecologic models is a major challenge in paleobiology. In part, this difficulty reflects that different evolutionary groups followed varying diversity trajectories through time; more specifically, the rate and timing of taxonomic and ecological diversification vary considerably when comparing the evolutionary histories

The Cambrian Series 2–Miaolingian boundary interval in Australia—equivalent to the local Ordian and Templetonian stages—has long been a source of controversy, with a practical and consistent subdivision of this interval proving elusive. Recent ratification of the Miaolingian Series and Wuliuan Stage Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in South China, based primarily on the first appearance

Chronostratigraphic stage boundaries (based primarily on biostratigraphy and radio-isotopic dating) and stratigraphic sequence boundaries (based on changes in global sea level and tectonism) are two major ways of subdividing the Phanerozoic geologic record. We find a close correlation between the ages of 28 sequence boundaries of the last 253 My and the ages of 28 dated chronostratigraphic stage boundaries

Agriculture, a historically crucial sector for Thailand's economy, has been severely impacted in recent years due to global climate change causing widespread alterations in rainfall patterns across the country. Therefore, for developing resilient climate adaptation measures, it is important to understand the inter-annual variability of rainfall and its associated processes. Large-scale oceanic phenomena

Carboniferous-Permian shale deposits around the world are known to contain abundant shale gas resources making them critical for increasing global shale gas reserves and production. Lithofacies analysis is crucial for identifying and predicting “sweet spots” targets. This study employed total organic carbon (TOC) data from 8166 samples, mineral content data from 4524 samples, and major and trace element

Soil erosion is an important driver of land and ecological degradation, with hydraulic erosion in particular leading to widespread impacts and damage. As an important concept and indicator for characterizing the potential and pathways of sediment production and transportation within watersheds or on slopes, sediment connectivity has gained global attention and thus been analysed since its proposal

Orogenic events are not only of importance for the geological evolution of regions and continents but are also significant controls on the formation timing, genesis, and nature of the mineral deposits hosted by the resulting orogen. This study highlights the use of multi-proxy elemental and isotopic mapping of granitoids to advance our understanding of lithospheric architecture and the formation of

The Early Cretaceous opening of the South Atlantic Ocean was accompanied by extensive intrusive and extrusive magmatism collectively grouped in the South Atlantic Igneous Province (SAIP). The SAIP includes the onshore Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province (PELIP), offshore seaward-dipping reflectors sequences, the Rio Grande Rise and Walvis Ridge, and voluminous intrusive magmatism. Nonetheless, the

Since the early nineteenth century, the Central European Basin (CEB) has been a historically important region for the study of terrestrial tetrapods from the Triassic Period, and continues to yield a wealth of new finds. A review of the fossil evidence permits the recognition of new patterns of diversity for various clades during the recovery period following the end-Permian mass extinction. Unfortunately

Ammonoids are an extinct group of externally-shelled cephalopods that appeared in the Early Devonian. The early evolution of these marine invertebrates occurred against a backdrop of environmental conditions repeatedly disrupted by crises of varying severity. To better understand the genesis of these bioevents and their potential abiotic triggers, this study analyzes the biodiversity fluctuations characterizing

High-Mountain Asia (HMA) hosts the largest concentration of modern glaciers in middle- and low-latitude regions. The widespread glacial landforms in HMA suggest that these glaciers have experienced significant changes in extent over time. The climate of northern HMA is influenced mainly by the Asian monsoons and the mid-latitude westerlies. Changes in the climate system during glacial-interglacial

The India-Asia continental collision and the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau have long been attributed to continuous Cenozoic convergence with two generic assumptions: the ongoing India-Asia collision and the underthrusting of the Indian continent beneath the Tibet hinterland. This study presents a challenge to the two assumptions through an integrative analysis of geological, geophysical and geochemical

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibits a wide range of spatial patterns, causing distinct global impacts. Over the past decades, various ENSO indices have been proposed to capture its diversity. Although the classification systems for ENSO flavors differ by definition methodology, it has generally been categorized into two distinct eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) types. However

Challenges related to global change require an integrated approach to managing highly complex natural systems on various scales. Biodiversity and geodiversity are key aspects of nature's diversity, which both interact with each other and affect the diversity of climatic conditions on different scales. In turn, they are affected by and influence the cultural diversity of human societies, in particular

This work reviews the current understanding and challenges in evaluating the influences of grain-coating clay minerals on water-rock interactions in sandstones. Subsequently, mathematical formulations and reactive transport modelling were employed to advance the understanding of clay coats. Firstly, clay coats can reduce the accessible surface area of detrital grains, which is collectively controlled

Igneous intrusions and associated hydrothermal activities have significantly influenced petroleum systems and climate conditions at both local and global scale, especially during the Permian period. This review examines the impacts of the Tarim Large Igneous Province (TLIP) and Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP) on the petroleum systems and climate outcomes in the Tarim and Sichuan basins. In the

An increasing number of land cover products have been generated from remote sensing imagery by deep learning based semantic segmentation models, attributable to their substantial advancements in performance relative to traditional machine learning techniques. However, due to the spatial-temporal-spectral heterogeneity in the complex and diverse remote sensing imageries, the occurrence of discrepancies

Symbiotic associations are key interactions in benthic ecosystems; they drive evolutionary changes that influence the complexity of life. Out of the major groups of Phanerozoic corals, scleractinians, established the highest number of symbiotic associations, followed by tabulate and rugose corals. Corals were most frequently associated with "worms", followed by arthropods, mollusks, lophophorates,

Serpentinization and deserpentinization are critical metamorphic reactions in subduction zones and have gained substantial attention in recent years. These metamorphic reactions significantly alter mineral assemblages and microstructures in subduction zones, thereby affecting their elastic properties and geodynamic behaviors. This paper comprehensively reviews and further investigates the potential

The southwestern margin of Amazonia hosted accretionary orogens for most of the past 2 Ga. A succession of accretionary mountain belts evolved from 2 Ga to 1 Ga, they are here informally grouped in the Terra Amazonica Orogen. It occupies large tracts of the Amazonian Shield, is poorly exposed and often inaccessible. Its evolution ended when Amazonia collided with Laurentia at 1 Ga in Rodinia. After

The deposition, diagenesis, and subsequent evolution of dolostones are vital geological processes in basin sedimentary history, recording processes of evaporite formation, the Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) zinc–lead (Zn–Pb) deposit, and hydrocarbon accumulation. This review provides a comprehensive investigation and discussion on the tectonic framework of the MVT Zn–Pb deposits, the processes of dolostone

The Proto-Tethys Ocean plays a significant role in the processes of supercontinent breakup-assembling and Eurasia's formation history. The Paleozoic Altyn Orogen marks the northern boundary of the Proto-Tethys Ocean realm and holds the deepest records of continental subduction, but the detailed tectonic evolution of this orogen remains controversial. We present a systematic overview of recent studies

Precipitation is one of the crucial climatic variables that has significant impact on the natural and human systems, with several important sectors of the Earth's system responding to its spatiotemporal variability. Consequently, various studies are conducted on global and regional scales to evaluate changes and trends in precipitation, with more emphasis on extremes. This review assesses existing

A comprehensive compilation of Konservat-Lagerstätten reveals their organization into two major environmental and preservation cycles since the dawn of the metazoan fossil record. The Ediacaran–Carboniferous interval is marked by the predominant preservation of arthropods, worms, and shelly invertebrates, typically found compressed, pyritized, or phosphatized within siliciclastic-dominated marine deposits

Understanding fire behavior is a crucial step in wildfire risk assessment and management. Accurate and near real-time knowledge of the spatio-temporal characteristics of fuels is critical for analyzing pre-fire risk mitigation and managing active-fire emergency response. Geospatial modeling and land cover mapping using remote sensing combined with artificial intelligence techniques can provide fuel

Lacustrine oil shales are valuable unconventional resources, with their organic matter (OM) enrichment closely linked to paleoclimatic conditions. However, the mechanisms controlling OM enrichment in freshwater and saline lacustrine environments remain underexplored. This study represents the first application of the random forest (RF) classifier to investigate how paleoclimatic changes influence OM

Research on the stable boundary layer is not only a scientific challenge but is also the foundation of studies on the atmospheric environment, weather, and climate change, with significant practical value in social and economic development. Starting from the mutual transitions between weakly and strongly stable boundary layer states, we review the research progress and application of weak turbulent

Deciphering the genesis and evolution of crustal lithotectonic blocks and defining the nature of their boundaries are prerequisites for assessing the nature and duration of crustal assembly processes through time and identifying new ore systems. However, ancient small-scale crustal masses and peripheral areas of large cratons have often been involved in subsequent orogenic cycles, heavily reworking

We provide a comprehensive overview and summarizes the recent advances in the mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments (HBS) from three aspects: experimental investigation, numerical simulation, and constitutive model. Mechanical properties and microscopic mechanisms under the influence of multiple factors are expounded in depth. The results show that hydrate saturation and confining pressure

Previously glaciated landscapes often present unique challenges for hydrogeological investigations. Specifically, ice-marginal terrestrial landsystems are often difficult to characterize and model considering the dynamic nature of the ice and associated meltwater and sediment gravity flow processes that result in heterogeneous sediment successions and architectures over a range of scales. This paper

The impact of human activities on aquatic ecosystems has been a growing concern requiring reliable bioindicators for monitoring environmental changes. Ostracods, a group of small crustaceans, have shown great potential in this role due to their sensitivity to various pollutants and environmental conditions. We review all studied responses of Ostracoda to anthropogenic environmental stresses, covering

Large dams exert significant impacts on the hydrology and geomorphology of the rivers they impound. Although there is a renewed interest in large dams in Africa to support sustainable development in the face of a changing climate, no systematic review of their hydrogeomorphological impacts exists at continental scale. In this review, we compiled a geospatial dataset of 1047 large dams from different

The author misconstrues our comments. We simply present the research and opinions of other investigators. We are well-aware that the landscape of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the southeastern U.S. was never glaciated.

The paper by Holliday, et al. (2023) tries to establish that the major axes of the elliptical Carolina Bays are not oriented toward the Great Lakes and that the bays are well documented ice-melt landforms known as kettles. Both of these propositions are inaccurate. The paper relies on outdated references from before LiDAR was in common use and before the Nebraska basins had been discovered. The orientations

Situated in the southwestern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, the Dananhu Arc is a prominent porphyry Cu belt in NW China. The Carboniferous granitoids that host two giant to large and several medium to small porphyry Cu deposits are concentrated in the middle segment of the arc. In contrast, coeval granitoids in the adjacent western and eastern segments are barren. The key factors controlling

The eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is an interactive area of multiple tectonic regimes. In the past decades, researchers have conducted extensive studies in the eastern CAOB over the past decades and reported plenty of new data. However, there are still many open questions and arguments dealing with the correlation and tectonic affinity of different blocks with Precambrian crystalline basements

Organic-inorganic interactions, ubiquitous in sedimentary basins, critically influence the genesis and evolution of petroleum and natural gases. These processes also modify the inorganic rock matrix as well as cause the formation of secondary pores. This review synthesizes evidences from thermal experiments and geological case studies to examine the genesis, evolution pathways and significance of thermally

The sedimentary-stratigraphic record is the principal repository of empirical historic evidence for evolution and deep time environments. However, the record has a temporal incompleteness and inconsistency to its extensive quantity, driven by the spatial heterogeneity of deposition and erosion. This is argued to bias intensive fossil records, with correlations apparent between fossil diversity and

Octacalcium phosphate (OCP) is a solid phase that is well known in the biomedical field because it is widely used and tested as a precursor to bioapatite to treat various diseases affecting bones and teeth. In contrast, the knowledge of OCP in the earth sciences and its actual and possible applications in the environmental field are much less well known. With this review, we aim to fill this gap by

Large earthquakes can trigger cascading flood hazards that can influence societal risk and loss; however, the mechanisms driving coseismic river response (CRR) in seismogenic regions have not been fully characterized. This review synthesizes data from fifty-two global cases of CRR where surface deformation affected rivers and identifies the key physical and environmental parameters that control riverine

This paper reviews the origin of putative stromatolites within 3.7 Ga meta-dolostones from the Isua Supracrustal Belt (Greenland) as either bona fide biogenic structures, as other (abiogenic) types of primary sedimentary structures, or as the products of structural deformation.