Deep weathering in the semi-arid Coastal Cordillera, Chile.

The weathering front is the boundary beneath Earth's surface where pristine rock is converted into weathered rock. It is the base of the "critical zone", in which the lithosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere interact. Typically, this front is located no more than 20 m deep in granitoid rock in humid climate zones.

Megathrust shear force controls mountain height at convergent plate margins.

The shear force along convergent plate boundary faults (megathrusts) determines the height of mountain ranges that can be mechanically sustained. However, whether the true height of mountain ranges corresponds to this tectonically supported elevation is debated. In particular, climate-dependent erosional processes are often assumed to exert a first-order control on mountain height, although this assumption has remained difficult to validate.

Linking megathrust earthquakes to brittle deformation in a fossil accretionary complex.

Seismological data from recent subduction earthquakes suggest that megathrust earthquakes induce transient stress changes in the upper plate that shift accretionary wedges into an unstable state. These stress changes have, however, never been linked to geological structures preserved in fossil accretionary complexes. The importance of coseismically induced wedge failure has therefore remained largely elusive.