This paper describes methodological experience and provides data references for international counterparts to study soil erosion in karst landform areas. The lithological and desertification factors introduced in the soil erosion model accurately reflect and predict soil erosion conditions and spatial distribution characteristics in karst areas. Future studies on soil erosion in karst areas should include underground loss in the calculation scope.

We studied the effect of land conversion and erosion intensity on the biogenic silica (BSi) pools in a subtropical soil in the south of Brazil. Our study shows that deforestation will rapidly (< 50 years) deplete (10–53 %) the biogenic alkaline extractable Si (AlkExSi) pool in soils. Higher erosion in steeply sloped sites implies increased deposition of biogenic Si in deposition zones near the bottom of the slope, where rapid burial can cause removal of BSi from biologically active zones.

Modeling natural deformation requires a good understanding of how the microscale and mesoscale properties of rocks affect bulk deformation. However, describing strain accommodation at a range of scales during rock deformation is an experimental challenge. We developed a novel technique that allows us to map strain down to the microscale. This technique was successfully applied to high-pressure, high-temperature deformation experiments and could be applied to a wide variety of geomaterials.

We present a new case study on the role of brittle precursors in nucleating shear zone. Our studied sample shows a high-pressure, low-temperature (HP/LT) microscale ultramylonite developed by brittle precursors induced during deformation within a host HP/LT granitic mylonite. We infer that the studied structures may be considered as a small-scale example of fault structures related to stick-slip strain accommodation during subduction of continental crust.

This is a study of unusual coronae textures formed by zircon in granulitic metapelites, Ivrea–Verbano Zone (northern Italy). Zircon coronas occur in two generations: (1) thick (5–20 µm) crescent-shaped aggregates and (2) thin (≤ 1 µm) thread-shaped and tangled coronae. Both are found in the same petrological context, so that the difference between two generations is very conspicuous. Formation of zircon coronae is attributed to the two-stage decomposition of Fe–Ti oxides, a rich source of Zr.

Electrical flow through porous media depends on the amount of conductive material available and how that material is connected. This has conventionally been described by two laws invented by Archie in 1942 which allowed only one conducting material and one non-conducting material. This paper contends that both laws arise from a single underlying law which allows for any number of materials, where their fractions sum to unity and a parameter describing their connectedness also sums to unity.

A key aspect of plate tectonics is the periodic assembly and subsequent break-up of supercontinents. There is strong evidence that this has happened repeatedly over geological history, but exactly how a supercontinent breaks up is still debated. In this paper, we use computer modelling of Earth's interior to show that the force needed to break a supercontinent should always arise from a combination of global-scale passive pulling apart and active pushing apart forces driven by the mantle.

Cocoa agroecosystems are a major land use type in West Africa, reportedly associated with the problem of soil degradation. This study developed a composite soil degradation assessment index (CSDI) for determining the degradation status of cocoa soils under smallholder farming systems in southwestern Nigeria. The newly developed index can show early warning signs of soil degradation, which can help farmers and extension officers to implement rehabilitation practices on degraded cocoa soils.