ALT Rhythmic methane release Photo of rice terraces in Congjiang County of China, where daytime radial oxygen loss from rice roots is actively driving oxic, abiotic methane production Image: Zhongnan Lu, Chaoyang Zhao, and Guoqiang Zhao Cover design: Alex Wing

ALT Schematic model of fluvial systems both before and after the development of land plants

ALT Globe showing a map of the salinity anomaly and its effect on circulation in the Atlantic Ocean

ALT Schematic illustration showing a dynamic and coupled supercontinent-plume-mantle domain model

ALT Schematic illustration summarising the gold accumulation by quartz piezocatalysis model

ALT Schematic illustration showing a conceptual model of the Hunga eruption and its sulfur and water budget

ALT Global map and plots showing regional joint near-term trends in rates of change in the annual maximum of daily maximum temperature and the amount of precipitation during the wettest 5 -day period of the year

ALT Plot showing the temporal variation of two measures of inner core rotation rate and the change in length of day

ALT Age-distance plot and schematic illustrations showing the spatial-temporal tectonic–magmatic–mineralization relationships along the Colorado Plateau Transition Zone supporting a flat-slab subduction and crustal anatexis porphyry copper deposit model for Arizona

ALT Schematic illustrations of phosphorous sources, sinks and recycling pathways on Earth before and after the origin of life

ALT Global maps of rooting-zone water-storage capacity from vegetation activity

ALT Illustration of sulfur speciation and equilibria in an arc-related calc-alkaline magmatic system

ALT Global map and plots showing the spatial distribution of mean recovery time and statistical profiles of recovery time

ALT Maps and plots showing the change in groundwater temperatures between 2000 and 2020 and between 2000 and 2100 following SSP 2–4.5

ALT Schematic illustrations of the conceptual framework explaining possible roles of exudate compound type and rate in regulating the dynamics of mineral-associated organic matter

ALT Map of the Azores high area and its recent expansion

ALT Visual illustration of microbial death pathways, including molecular transformations from microbial biomass to necromass

ALT Schematic illustration of the mid-crustal tipping point separating the formation of silica-undersaturated or -oversaturated magmas from silica-saturated primitive melts

ALT Maps of the sampling regions of SKKKP B-caustic diffractions and a schematic illustration of the dynamic processes of ULVZ evolution

ALT Time-series and globes showing the tectonic, magmatic and oceanic chemical changes during the Mesozoic

ALT Schematic diagrams showing the key atmospheric and sea ice processes controlling the (in)stability of the eastern Antarctic Peninsula’s ice shelves through time

ALT Maps showing global river carbon export

ALT Schematic of Thwaites Glacier in two stages of retreat due to an influx of warm ocean waters onto the continental shelf. The top image shows a partially grounded ice shelf in slow retreat while the bottom image depicts rapid retreat of an ungrounded ice shelf

ALT Global maps of the predicted distribution of multiservice resistance in response to an increasing number of global change factors

ALT Schematic illustrations of depositional models for the Hamersley Group banded iron formations

ALT P-wave velocity cross-sections showing the impact of plate bending on mantle hydration.

ALT Schematic showing the chain of tectonic events in the Neotethys

ALT Schematic illustration of the interpreted slab tearing along a subducted oceanic plate joint

ALT Schematic illustration of an evolutionary model of the development of recumbent folds and associated brittle structures, and its implications for seismicity distribution

ALT Illustration of transport and retention of nitrogen (N) across human-impacted landscapes

ALT October 2024 Nature Geoscience cover Graphitic carbon cycling during mountain building 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. Image: Jonathan Toma Cover design: Alex Wing

ALT Maps of the global spatial distribution of baseflow index dominant factors

ALT Global map of supershear earthquakes

ALT Schematic illustration of the conceptual model

ALT Schematic illustration of the common factors impacting slip behaviour in Alaska, New Zealand and southwestern Japan and the interplay between these

ALT A colorful grid of the 12 Nature Geoscience covers that made up 2022

ALT Schematic illustration of volcano distribution and plumbing-system architecture along the eastern Australia continental hotspot track

ALT Hidden sulfur from submarine eruptions Aerial photo showing a plume rising from an undersea eruption of Hunga volcano in March 2009 Image: Telusa Fotu/AFP via Getty Images Cover design: Alex Wing

ALT Schematic illustration of the spatiotemporal variations of marine ecological stoichiometries of C, N and P

ALT December 2024 Nature Geoscience cover The future of deep ocean drilling 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. Image: Thomas Ronge, IODP JRSO Cover design: Alex Wing

ALT Schematic illustration of the preferred model for the mechanisms of India–Eurasia convergence and the deformation of the Indo-Australia Plate

ALT Schematic illustration of the global teleconnection from delayed Southern Ocean warming

ALT Graph of the mean δ18 oxygen and δ13 carbon of benthic foraminifera records from the ODP (Ocean Drilling Project) and IODP (International Ocean Drilling Project)

ALT Global maps showing reconstructions and proxy data for the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum

ALT Schematic illustration of the proposed linkage between surface N2O production and CO2 removal by the biological pump

ALT Bathymetric images of the sedimentary grounding zone system mapped on ‘the bump’ seaward of Thwaites ice shelf

ALT Global, wide-angle, and close-up images of the summit of Olympus Mons on Mars, with the latter two showing frost on the floor and northern rim of the summit caldera

ALT Plot of Jack Hills zircon δ18O versus age for individual magmatic grains

ALT 3D plot showing the lower crust and upper mantle rheology inferred from the desiccation of the Aral Sea