The recently discovered theropod Halszkaraptor escuillei reveals a novel basal dromaeosaurid clade, and its adaptations that suggest a semi-aquatic predatory lifestyle add an additional ecomorphology to those developed by non-avian maniraptorans.

Many Martian clays formed when Mars’ primary crust reacted with a water/carbon dioxide steam or supercritical atmosphere and subsequent impacts and volcanism caused the distribution of clay exposures seen today.

Viscosity increase in the mantle may cause slab stagnation and plume deflection, but the cause has been unclear. Here, the authors perform experiments showing that the viscosity of ferropericlase increases by 10–100 times from 750 to 1250 km depth indicating a single mechanism for these observations.

The Andean orogeny commenced in the Cretaceous, but was preceded by backarc extension starting in the Jurassic. Here, the author presents a 4D geodynamic subduction model reproducing the evolution of overriding plate deformation along with a progressive decrease in slab dip, explaining Jurassic-present arc migration.

Human activity and related land use change are the primary cause of soil erosion. Here, the authors show the impacts of 21st century global land use change on soil erosion based on an unprecedentedly high resolution global model that provides insights into the mitigating effects of conservation agriculture.

Collisions of large differentiated impactors during the late stages of Earth’s accretion may have heterogeneously mixed projectile material into the Earth, explaining observed chemical and isotopic heterogeneities in mantle materials.