Diatom skeletons largely remain near the surface of the subpolar Southern Ocean following diatom bloom events, suggesting that they do not play as big a role in the downward flux of organic matter as previously thought, according to data from two expeditions focused on the marine twilight zone.

One type of ocean acidification extreme event, as well as marine heatwaves, can be confidently predicted up to 1 year in advance, according to forecasts stemming from an Earth system model ensemble.

Freshwater being released from the Beaufort Gyre is accumulating in an Arctic Ocean buffer zone before it can reach the North Atlantic, according to an analysis of satellite observation and modelling.

Soil surface temperatures constrain the low-elevation extent of forests in the western United States through their direct effects on seedling mortality, according to analyses of the relationship between post-fire tree recruitment and soil surface temperature across this region.

Fresh meltwater entering the Labrador and Irminger seas has resulted in a slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since the 1950s, according to a combination of modelling approaches.

A quantitative assessment suggests that the reductions in aerosol and ozone levels from 2014 to 2020 due to the clean air action in China led to a substantial increase in the national net primary productivity due to the weakened aerosol climatic effects, alleviated ozone vegetation damage and enhanced light availability.

Geologists are seeking new critical mineral resources that are needed to support the world’s transition to net-zero carbon emissions.

Gold has both economic and cultural significance to human societies but, as Liang Zhang and David Groves explain, we owe its presence in the Earth’s crust to repeating cycles of plate tectonics.

Quantitative bibliometric analysis of articles published in Nature Index journals over the past two decades reveals that there is less international collaboration in geoscience than in other natural science disciplines.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly enabling geoscience research. Ensuring community trust in its outcomes requires education and transparency.

Olivine is stable and abundant in the Earth’s upper mantle, and its transformations may drive large earthquakes deeper in the mantle, as Tomohiro Ohuchi explains.

Nature Geoscience spoke with Dr Mariana Clare, a machine learning scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts; Prof. Haifeng Qian, an environmental scientist at Zhejiang University of Technology; and Dr Theresa Sawi, a seismologist at the US Geological Survey, about using artificial intelligence (AI) in their research and in geoscience generally.