Showing papers in "Earth-Science Reviews in 2010"

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a synthesis of past research on the role of soil moisture for the climate system, based both on modelling and observational studies, focusing on soil moisture-temperature and soil moistureprecipitation feedbacks, and their possible modifications with climate change.

TL;DR: In this paper, a new reconstruction of Alpine Tethys combines plate-kinematic modeling with a wealth of geological data and seismic tomography to shed light on its evolution, from sea-floor spreading through subduction to collision in the Alps.

TL;DR: The Arabian plate is one of the smaller and younger of the Earth's lithospheric plates as discussed by the authors, and the distribution of these rocks and variations in elevation across the Plate cause a pronounced geologic and topographic asymmetry, with extensive basement exposures (the Arabian Shield) and elevations of as much as 3000 meters in the west and a Phanerozoic succession (Arabian Platform) that thickens, and a surface that descends to sea level, eastward between the Shield and the northeastern margin of the Plate.

TL;DR: In this paper, present-day sources and properties of dust, synthesise available records of dust deposition at the last glacial maximum (LGM); evaluate the evidence for changes in ocean palaeo-productivity associated with, and possibly caused by, changes in aeolian flux to the oceans at the LGM; and consider the radiative forcing effects of increased LGM dust loadings.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism by which clay minerals swell and what steps have been taken in the development of effective and environmentally friendly clay swelling inhibitors.

TL;DR: A detailed review of the impact detection methods can be found in this article, with the best diagnostic indicators for shock metamorphism being features that can be studied easily by using the polarizing microscope, such as planar microdeformation features (PFs), isotropization (e.g., formation of diaplectic glasses), and phase changes (high pressure phases; melting).

TL;DR: A critical review of the kinematic models published since Bullard et al., 1965, based on a series of constraints: new interpretation of the magnetic anomalies, seafloor isochrons, flow lines, fracture zones, continental and oceanic homologous structures and radiometric dating of igneous rocks, is presented in this article.

TL;DR: A significant portion of the Tibetan Plateau is underlain by permafrost, and is highly sensitive to climate change Observational data from recent Chinese investigations on permfrost degradation and its environmental effects in the Tibetan region indicate that a large portion of Tibet has experienced significant warming since the mid-1950s The air temperature increase is most significant in the central, eastern, and northwestern parts of the Plateau The warming trend in the cold season was greater than that in the warm season.

TL;DR: For example, in this paper, the authors used a GIS-based model to compare the Quaternary and Neoproterozoic marine evaporites and showed that the latter are poor counterparts to the former.

TL;DR: Rutile is the most common naturally occurring titanium dioxide polymorph and is widely distributed as an accessory mineral in metamorphic rocks ranging from greenschist to eclogite and granulite facies but is also present in igneous rocks, mantle xenoliths, lunar rocks and meteorites.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the concept of a "chessboard" to classify mineral resources in the mixtum compositum of all geoscientific disciplines focused on one goal, finding new mineral depsosits and enhancing their exploitation.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors have assigned the uppermost levels of the Solimoes Formation in western Amazonia, Brazil, to the Late Miocene by using facies analysis from river banks, road cuts, and three wells.

TL;DR: The numerical meta-analysis of 92 proxy records (72 sites) of moisture and/or temperature change confirms earlier findings that the dominant trends of climatic evolution in monsoonal central Asia since the Last Glacial roughly parallel changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive review of 144 Cambrian to Devonian alluvial successions documented in published literature was combined with original field data from 34 alluvian successions across Europe and North America.

TL;DR: In this article, the amount and distribution of ice within sediment and rock are termed as "cryostructures" and structures formed by these structures are termed "cryofacies".

TL;DR: This paper provided an overview of the first 50 million years of dinosaur history, with a focus on the large-scale patterns that characterize the ascent of dinosaurs from a small, almost marginal group of reptiles in the Late Triassic to the preeminent terrestrial vertebrates of the Jurassic and Cretaceous.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that there is an important but previously underestimated sink for atmospheric CO 2 as DIC-dissolved inorganic carbon that results from the combined action of carbonate dissolution, the global water cycle and the photosynthetic uptake of DIC by aquatic organisms in ocean and land.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the current volume constraints for the silicic ignimbrite eruptions may be considerably underestimated due to considerable volumes residing as co-ignimblite ash deposits.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the Cretaceous volcanic rocks and nonmarine successions in the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula, which constitute an ancient continental arc system.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors revisited the potential of meteoritic 10Be as a geochemical tracer of erosion and stability of surfaces in a diverse range of natural settings and provided a set of algebraic expressions that allow calculation of both soil or sediment ages and erosion rates from the inventory of meteoric 10Be distributed through a vertical soil column.

TL;DR: In this area, rapid and sustained fluid-mud concentration and trapping are associated with fresh water-salt water interaction and estuarine front activity on the continental shelf due to the huge suspended-sediment discharge of the Amazon River (106 × 754 tons yr− 1 ± 9%), part of which is transported alongshore as mud banks.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the distribution and characteristics of boulders from the coastal boulder fields of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan with those from the same source of the 1771 Meiwa Tsunami.

TL;DR: Chernysheva et al. as mentioned in this paper reviewed intraplate magmatism in Siberia and its folded surroundings from 480 ǫ to the present, and suggested a set of paleogeographic reconstructions of the Siberian continent for which they evaluated the paleolatitude based on the paleomagnetic data and estimate the position by placing Siberia above the African LLSVP.

TL;DR: In this paper, a hierarchy of factors, with those occurring at the top of the hierarchy exerting a stronger influence on ice stream location, and where present beneath an ice sheet, are very likely to be associated with fast flow.

TL;DR: The Hirnantian GSSP in south China is tentatively correlated with latest Ordovician strata from the peri-Gondwanan “glacial” regions as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: In this paper, foraminifera and brachiopod-range truncations in conodont-dated sections on the South China Block have shown that the losses occur below this level, in the middle of the Capitanian Stage.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reported new 40Ar/39Ar and geochemical data from offshore (Chatham Rise, Campbell and Challenger Plateaus) and onland (North, South, Auckland, Campbell, Chatham and Antipodes Islands of New Zealand) volcanism on Zealandia.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the Holocene floodplain sediment deposition history of rivers in West and Central Europe, with special attention to the influence of climate and land use variability.

TL;DR: A review of the structure and metamorphism of the Menderes Massif in western Turkey, and subsequently a map-view restoration of its Neogene unroofing history is provided in this article.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of advances in developing and applying analogue and numerical thermo-mechanical models to quantitatively assess the interplay of lithosphere dynamics and basin deformation.