Rapid coupling between solid earth and ice volume during the Quaternary.

The solid earth plays a major role in controlling Earth's surface climate. Volcanic degassing of carbon dioxide (CO) and silicate chemical weathering are known to regulate the evolution of climate on a geologic timescale (> 10 yr), but the relationship between the solid earth and the shorter (< 10 yr) fluctuations of Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles is still under debate. Here we show that the seawater osmium isotope composition (Os/Os), a proxy for the solid earth's response to climate change, has varied during the past 300,000 years in association with glacial-interglacial cycles.

Author Correction: Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event.

The deep-sea clay that covers wide areas of the pelagic ocean bottom provides key information about open-ocean environments but lacks age-diagnostic calcareous or siliceous microfossils. The marine osmium isotope record has varied in response to environmental changes and can therefore be a useful stratigraphic marker. In this study, we used osmium isotope ratios to determine the depositional ages of pelagic clays extraordinarily rich in fish debris.

A Miocene impact ejecta layer in the pelagic Pacific Ocean.

Meteorite impacts have caused catastrophic perturbations to the global environment and mass extinctions throughout the Earth's history. Here, we present petrographic and geochemical evidence of a possible impact ejecta layer, dating from about 11 Ma, in deep-sea clayey sediment in the Northwest Pacific. This clay layer has high platinum group element (PGE) concentrations and features a conspicuous negative Os isotope anomaly (Os/Os as low as ~0.

The tremendous potential of deep-sea mud as a source of rare-earth elements.

Potential risks of supply shortages for critical metals including rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY) have spurred great interest in commercial mining of deep-sea mineral resources. Deep-sea mud containing over 5,000 ppm total REY content was discovered in the western North Pacific Ocean near Minamitorishima Island, Japan, in 2013. This REY-rich mud has great potential as a rare-earth metal resource because of the enormous amount available and its advantageous mineralogical features.