In this paper a part of a new multi-proxy results obtained from the Kotoń landslide fen deposits (the Beskid Makowski Mountains, the Outer Western Carpathians, S Poland), including loss on ignition analysis, plant macrofossil analysis and radiocarbon dating is presented. The aim of the study was to verify whether the reconstructed local palaeoecological stages of the Kotoń fen development could be correlated with the Bølling-Older Dryas-Allerød sequence and to verify whether the rarely recognised short GI-1d/Older Dryas climate cooling affected the regional and local palaeoecological record of the Kotoń deposits. Results showed that four palaeoecological stages of development (poor-in-vegetation waterbody, waterbody with aquatic succession, calcareous extremely rich fen and moderately rich fen) determined for the Kotoń landslide fen deposits between ca. 14,600–13,500 cal BP stay in agreement with the earlier pollen division of the Kotoń deposits and with the extraregional chronology of the Greenland ice cores. The influence of GI-1d/Older Dryas climate cooling on the surrounding and regional vegetation was recognised for the deposits of Kotoń and other localities in a form of open-space habitats with herbs, shrubs and sparse tree stands, e.g. steppe-tundra, reflecting the cold and dry climatic conditions. In case of local vegetation and palaeohydrological changes, the Older Dyas climatic oscillation was recorded as a shallowing of the existing palaeo-waterbodies. Although for other localities this process was attributed to the dry climatic conditions, in case of Kotoń site more detail multi-proxy research is necessary to distinguish the climatic impact from the autogenic succession.

The metamorphic history of the eastern Beartooth Mountains of Montana in the northern Archean Wyoming Province is challenging to establish given the multi-staged nature of metamorphism in the area and the prevalence of metamorphic overprinting. A petrologically illustrative cordierite-orthopyroxene xenolith in ∼2.80 Ga calc-alkaline granitic igneous rocks exhibits a mineral assemblage responsive to multiple metamorphic overprints. Cordierite-orthopyroxene and/or -orthoamphibole rocks (CORs) have mineral assemblages that provide instructive information on the metamorphic development of the terranes and the processes that form their protoliths. This investigation combines detailed petrographic and mineral-chemical investigations with petrological modelling of this COR locality, to establish important aspects of the local pressure-temperature (P-T) history.

The COR lithology, found in the Quad Creek locality of the study area, preserves textural evidence for three discrete metamorphic events consisting of a granulite-facies event (M1) that is overprinted by two, lower-grade hydration events: an upper amphibolite-facies event (M2) and a greenschist-facies event (M3). The M1 event is characterised by the mineral assemblage rutile-biotite-orthopyroxene-cordierite-quartz-melt ± sillimanite that equilibrated at ∼0.60 GPa and 775–815°C. M2 overprinting is marked by partial hydration of orthopyroxene to anthophyllite, crystallisation of plagioclase from a putative melt and ilmenite–rutile co-existence. The final metamorphic stage, M3, is marked by local hydration of orthorhombic inosilicates to talc and cordierite to pinite (chlorite). Estimates of M2 P-T conditions suggest development below ∼0.40 GPa at 615–725°C, whereas M3 probably developed below 0.40 GPa and 500–600°C. The resultant clockwise cordierite-orthopyroxene P-T path resembles modelled metamorphic P-T paths in proximal xenolithic lithologies. This interpretive P-T history is consistent with metamorphism in an Archean continental arc subduction zone with M1 metamorphism due to compression and tectonic burial, M2 due to hydration following, or coeval, with emplacement of voluminous ∼2.80 Ga plutons and M3 due to later low-T fluids. Although not conclusive, the Quad Creek COR was probably derived from a metasomatised basaltic protolith from the Archean seafloor, a comparable mode of origin to many COR occurrences worldwide.

Bone and tissue fractions, obtained in 2017 following hip replacement surgery on a healthy Caucasian male, born in 1944, reflect in their 14C concentrations the integrated effect of the lifetime metabolic uptake and replacement of atmospheric bomb 14C at different tissue-specific turnover rates. The 14C content of hair and nails reflects recent carbon uptake. The 14C values in healthy cartilage and bone collagen/apatite correspond to those of the “local” atmosphere during the 2005–2009 Northern Hemisphere growing seasons, while those from damaged areas of the femur head correspond to the atmosphere in 2013–2014. A simple bone growth and regeneration model used in combination with the NH atmospheric 14C concentrations indicates remodelling rates around 9% per year in the healthy bone and a doubling to tripling in the damaged area depending on the model chosen. The differences in 14C concentration observed in the fractions provide both a caveat for sample selection for the 14C dating of archaeological bones and an indication of its potential in forensics and as a diagnostic tool for turnover rates in medical studies.

Deep-sea trawl samples collected from the west coast of India have revealed several previously undetected species inhabiting the deep waters. This study reports the first record of Bathycongrus nasicus from the western Indian waters and the second record from the entire western Indian Ocean. A single specimen of B. nasicus was collected from the Neendakara fishery harbour in southern Kerala. The species identity was confirmed morphometrically by comparing it with previous records, and the study provides the first molecular identification of this rare congrid eel. The presence of B. nasicus in the western Indian waters suggests its potential distribution throughout the northern Indian Ocean, with prior records from the Bay of Bengal and the western Arabian Sea. This new record indicates that there might be occurrences of several previously unknown fish species in the non-commercial fishery of this region, underscoring the importance of survey collections of non-commercial fishes, which play a crucial role in marine ecosystems.

We conduct an ensemble of simulations of the englacial temperature field of the Antarctic ice sheet to gauge the sensitivity to uncertainties in geothermal heat flow, surface climatic conditions, ice thermodynamics and dynamics. We compare the modeled temperature fields with observational constraints, including deep-borehole temperature measurements, englacial temperatures retrieved from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite observations, and the distribution of subglacial lakes to determine the most likely boundary conditions. Results show that temperate basal conditions prevail over 60% of the Antarctic ice sheet, with a mean basal melt rate of 6.9 mm a−1. The ensemble mean subglacial meltwater production over the grounded ice sheet is 69 Gt a−1, with a contribution of 51% from geothermal heat and 49% from frictional heat. While geothermal heat flow remains the largest source of uncertainty, heat flow datasets leading to colder conditions tend to fit englacial temperature measurements better. However, ice thermomechanical approximations influence the shape of temperature profiles and may, in some cases, be more important than the geothermal heat flow. Furthermore, since frictional heat contributes significantly to basal melt in regions hosting fast-flowing glaciers, uncertainties in basal slipperiness affect the basal melt estimates as much as the geothermal heat flow.

Pygoscelis penguins are valuable indicators of the effects of rapid warming in the Antarctic Peninsula. In the western Antarctic Peninsula, Adélie penguins show a declining population trend, whereas gentoo penguins are expanding. The notably low reproductive success of Adélie but not gentoo penguins at Ardley Island during the 2023/2024 breeding season provided an opportunity to explore the potential effects of weather conditions and food availability as possible determinants of reproductive output. We explore associations between reproductive output, air temperature, wind speed, wind chill temperature and accumulated rain and snow. As a proxy for food availability, we used data of penguins’ foraging trips, which reflect krill abundance. A late-winter storm at the end of October 2023 led to a record-low wind chill temperature and sustained snow cover, negatively affecting the number of eggs that hatched successfully and/or the number of chicks that survived the first days after hatching. The effects were similar for both species, yet for gentoo penguins chick survival in the late stage of the chick-rearing phase was remarkably higher, possibly due to high food availability and a longer nestling period. As previously suggested, the greater plasticity of gentoo penguins may allow them to mitigate the negative effects of environmental variability, potentially explaining this divergent breeding success despite unusually harsh meteorological conditions.

This study is the first report on the monotypic Codonaria cistellula (Fol, 1883) Kofoid & Campbell, 1939 from the North-Eastern Arabian Sea (NEAS), Indian Ocean. The species was recorded at a water temperature of 25–26 °C and a salinity of 36‰, from a depth of 75–100 m in the NEAS. Two morphotypes were encountered from the region, yet the lorica opening diameter (LOD) remained within a narrow range of 46–50 µm. Moreover, as the original description lacks information on LOD, the circumscription of the species is difficult due to the lorica polymorphism, warranting further genetic analyses.

Folds within layered rock systems are critical for comprehending the historical processes of deformation and the rheological behaviour of rocks. The current study employs finite element modelling to investigate the development of folds in a layered rock system, with a particular focus on the impact of thinner layers on the folding of adjacent thicker layers and their subsequent interactions. The analysis indicates that harmonic folds can evolve into polyharmonic or disharmonic configurations because of the intricate interactions occurring within the contact strain zone of the thinner layer. Our numerical findings demonstrate that the geometry of folds is significantly affected by the reciprocal interactions between thinner and thicker layers, initiated by the folding of the thinner units and their consequent influence on the thicker layers, and vice versa. This dynamic interplay, however, may frequently diverge from predictions made by more simplistic models, as suggested by earlier studies. Furthermore, this research highlights the potential of utilizing higher-order fold geometries to estimate the relative viscosity between the layers and the embedded medium.