Volume 17

The recent decommissioning of the JOIDES Resolution vessel run by the International Ocean Drilling Program presents a challenge for research reliant on deep-ocean drilling. The image shows the ship’s drilling derrick behind pipe racks involved in the collection of deep-sea sediment cores during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 403 to the Fram Strait during the summer of 2024.

See Q&A.

: Nitrogen fixation by diazotrophs near the edges of North Atlantic eddies is a key component of the North Atlantic marine nitrogen cycle, according to an analysis of genetic and past eddy activity data. The satellite image, taken on 9 March 2016, shows the Gulf Stream moving across a turbulent North Atlantic Ocean where turbulence is made visible by pigmented phytoplankton.

See Hoerstmann et al.

Coupled rhenium–osmium and uranium–lead dating suggest graphitic carbon was hydrothermally cycled through shear zones during late-stage orogenesis associated with Nuna supercontinent assembly. The photomicrograph shows a hydrothermal graphite–pyrite vein in a highly sheared, metasomatized metapelite host rock viewed under both reflected and transmitted light (image dimensions: 550 μm x 550 μm). Graphite stands out from the ground mass due to its brown colour, high reflectance, and platy crystal habit.

See Toma et al.

Quartz emits a piezoelectric charge during deformation that may promote the formation of gold nuggets within veins in orogenic settings that experience earthquakes, according to a study using quartz deformation experiments and piezoelectric modelling. This image presents a false-coloured X-ray tomography reconstruction of gold in quartz from the Discovery orogenic gold deposit located northeast of Yellow Knife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

See Voisey et al.

Satellite-based mapping of vegetation shows that photosynthetic life occupies a total area of 44.2 km2 across Antarctica. This drone image reveals a striking landscape mosaic of mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria covering ice-free areas of Robert Island, Antarctica — one of the most densely vegetated regions identified in the continent-wide mapping effort.

See Walshaw et al.

High-resolution spacecraft imagery has revealed transient deposits that appear in the early mornings of cold seasons at high altitudes on Mars, consistent with water frost of atmospheric origin. The image shows bluish water frost deposited on the caldera of Olympus Mons — the tallest known volcano in the Solar System — on a cold winter morning. The observations highlight the dynamic microclimate of the Tharsis volcanic province and its role in the broader Martian water cycle.

See Valantinas et al.

Model projections suggest that, even under a low emissions scenario, lakes on the Tibetan Plateau will increase in area by about 50% by 2100, with widespread impacts on infrastructure and ecosystems. The photo shows the Dawa Co (left) and Qiduo Co (right) lakes, the land between which is gradually disappearing due to rising lake levels.

See Zhang et al.

Clouds are the leading source of uncertainty in predicting climate change because they strongly influence Earth’s energy balance, yet how they interact with the climate system is not well understood. Tropical anvil clouds produced by thunderstorms are particularly important because they reflect sunlight and trap thermal radiation, but their fate in a warming world is unclear. The image shows anvil clouds casting shadows over the Amazon rainforest.

See McKim et al.

Human activities have altered the production, transport, and fate of mud and associated organic carbon, with important implications for global carbon cycling. The image shows a mudflat under the bridge to the island Oléron in Charente-Maritime, France.

See Bianchi et al.

A shift towards more frequent, less intense fires in Australia began about 11,000 years ago due to management by indigenous societies, according to charcoal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon records from cored lake sediments extending back 150,000 years. The image shows a raft-mounted hydraulic coring rig on Girraween Lagoon, northern Australia, looking over to Eucalypt savanna woodland. Middle right is the raft-mounted hydraulic coring rig used to take 18 metres of sediment from the bottom of the lake.

See Bird et al.

Ocean sediment records indicate that the modern Antarctic Circumpolar Current did not exist prior to climatic cooling in the Late Miocene, suggesting an origin linked to the expansion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The image shows Spanish polar research vessel BIO Hespérides (A-33) offshore Livingston Island in the South Shetlands Archipelago, Antarctic Peninsula.

See Evangelinos et al.

Mobilization of in-use rare earth element stocks in regions of high consumption can ease dependence on regions of rare earth element extraction, according to dynamic integrated modelling combining material flow and scenario analysis. The satellite image shows wind turbines offshore Jiangsu, China, that have magnets containing substantial rare earth elements, representing a potential urban mine for reuse.

See Chen et al.