Soil and water losses in agriculture are a major environmental problem on the Loess Plateau, China. This study investigated the effects of wheat stubble on soil erosion in laboratory plots under simulated rainfall. These results show that the traditional plow may induce more serious soil and water losses compared to wheat stubble cover. Wheat stubble cover delayed runoff generation time, decreased the runoff and sediment loss, and increased rainwater infiltration into the soil.

This work integrates measurements of the mechanical and transport properties with microstructures to understand deformation mechanisms in cemented mudrock. Cataclastic mechanisms are dominant down to nanometre scale. At low strain the fabric contains recognizable open fractures, while at high strain the reworked clay gouge shows resealing of initial fracture porosity. In the future, it will provide a microphysical basis for constitutive models to improve their extrapolation for long timescales.

Contrary to canonical notions, recent research suggests that N can cycle throughout the solid Earth over geologic time. Such cycling may directly affect climate and biologic productivity. Due to low concentrations in rocks and minerals, analysis and interpretation are difficult. Therefore, we adapted a fluorometry technique used in aquatic chemistry for use on geologic samples. We compare fluorometry to mass spectrometry and present discussion of the abundance of N in continental crust.

We integrated geological and geophysical data to study the evolution of a large sector of the central Apennines, in Italy. The adopted approach permitted us to cast light on timing of faults activity over the past about 2 million years. The results we obtained has implication in terms of assessment of seismic sources of strong earthquakes. In particular, we defined which of the investigated faults are able to produce large-magnitude seismic events and which are no longer able.

In this study we propose a dichotomy in the strength profile of tectonic plates. This apparent dichotomy suggests that plates at the Earth's surface are significantly stronger, by orders of magnitude, than the subducted slabs in the Earth's interior. Strong plates promote single-sided, Earth-like subduction. Once subducted, strong slabs transmit dynamic stresses and disrupt subduction. Slabs which are weakened do not disrupt subduction and furthermore exhibit a variety of observed morphologies.

This study re-evaluates the characterization of the Permian–Triassic boundary based on high-precision U-Pb geochronology from two marine sections (Dongpan and Penglaitan) with continuous and conformable stage boundaries in the Nanpanjiang Basin (southern China). These new dates provide the basis for a first proof-of-concept study utilizing a Bayesian statistic age–depth chronology comparing these two sections with the Global Stratotype Section and Point at Meishan (western China).

We investigated the Pelona Schist, an exhumed subduction complex in southern California associated with the Laramide subduction in Late Cretaceous–Paleocene. Based on field, microstructural and petrologic analyses, we established the deformational and metamorphic history of the Pelona Schist and discussed the exhumation process. Then we presented the rheological properties and deformation mechanisms of the Pelona Schist during each phase of deformation.

In the the Sant Corneli-Bóixols anticline, a syn-growth unconformity divides and de-couples a lower overturned pre-growth unit from an upper syn-growth one. Pre-growth strata and the unconformity underwent syn-folding shearing, even where they are mutually perpendicular. Different and coeval shear senses occurring at different structural positions indicate that regardless of its orientation, layering in the pre- and syn-growth sequences of the anticline was continuously sheared.

The youngest, easternmost part of continental Australia formed in an ancient subduction zone by rifting of the crust. This drove melting of the underlying mantle, producing basaltic magmas that intruded the crust. We determined the composition and ages of these intrusives, finding that they predate other types of magmatic intrusion in the area. This indicates progression in magma types from basaltic (mantle origin), through mixed, to granitic (crust recycling) during the growth of this region.

New splitting measurements are obtained using direct-S waves by correcting source-side contamination using data from southeastern Tibet, near Namcha Barwa. A highly deformed lithospheric and sub-lithospheric mantle reveals fast-axis patterns close to the surficial expressions of the local geology. Significant anisotropy observed at stations where null or no measurements were obtained in earlier studies indicates the importance of using direct-S waves for anisotropic measurements.

Every person is a seismometer. By using people’s reports submitted online to European seismological agencies, we made new grid cell shaking intensity maps of the 2011 Goch (DE) and 2015 Ramsgate (UK) M₄ earthquakes. Both events were widely felt in NW Europe and had non-concentric shaking intensity patterns which are strongly linked to the bedrock depth in the felt area. Storing intensity data in grid cells is a promising tool for seismological agencies to share intensity data anonymously.

Knowledge of in situ stress magnitudes and their spatial variability is critical for various topics, but local information on the stress field is often sparse and incomplete. In this case, analytic formulations, or numerical models, have to be used. In this study we describe and compare eight different strategies to predict the depth variation of stress within a layered rock formation. This reveals the inherent uncertainties in stress prediction from elastic properties and stress measurements.

Soil is a sphere of the earth system with a special structure and function. From the point of view of the earth system, soil science should not only study the soil material but also change towards the relationship between the soil and the earth system, which has a profound impact on the human living environment and global change research. The results show the relationship between soil Atterberg limits and the occurrence mechanism of collapsing gullies, which can be used as a reference.

Any 3-D geological model is subject to uncertainty. We applied the concept of information entropy in order to visualize and quantify changes in uncertainty between geological models based on different types of geological input data. Furthermore, we propose two measures, the city-block and the Jaccard distance, to directly compare dissimilarities between models. The presented approach helps to locate areas of uncertainty within the model domain and quantify model improvements due to added data.

To simulate grassland NPP in Southern China, a new model was built and validated based on data recorded from 2003 to 2014. There was a highly significant correlation between simulated and measured NPP. The NPP values had a decreasing trend from east to west and south to north. Mean NPP was 471.62 g C m⁻² from 2003 to 2014. Additionally, the mean annual NPP presented a rising trend, increasing 3.49 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹.

Two fire-affected soils have been studied using micromorphological methods. The objective of the paper is to assess and compare fire effects on the micropedological organisation of soils in a forest-steppe zone of central Russia. The burnt soils differ from the control on a macromorphological level only in the upper part of the profile where the litter is transformed to ash identified as a dim grey organomineral mixture. Processes of soil erosion are clearly manifested 1 year after the fire.

In volcanic rock, permeability is the property that tells us how efficiently fluids such as gas or water can travel through cracks and frozen bubbles in the rock (its porosity) and is important in the context of volcanic activity. This study addresses how permeability evolves under a range of mechanical experimental conditions. We show that with a small amount of porosity loss (compaction), permeability can increase. However, with more compaction, permeability can decrease significantly.