Nature Geoscience, Published online: 11 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02099-7

Rapid caldera collapse during submarine eruptions could increase tsunami magnitude, suggests an analysis of the geomorphological evolution of the caldera formed in the climactic eruption of Hunga volcano (Tonga) in 2022.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02082-2

Our global analysis of multi-source, multilayer soil moisture datasets shows that droughts become particularly damaging when moisture deficits occur simultaneously throughout the soil profile, eliminating vertical hydrological buffering. These vertically compound droughts have intensified across much of the globe and pose a growing threat to carbon uptake in forests and croplands.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02094-y

The single-cell Hadley circulation on Mars limits the mixing of materials across the cell’s interior and exterior, and it also leads to a pole-to-pole connection. This regime is created by the dominance of the mean flow over turbulences, which are dampened by the rapid temperature relaxation in the Martian atmosphere.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02069-z

Since 1725, weather extremes in Western Europe have been closely linked to the Atlantic–European jet stream, which is projected to strengthen by 2100 while becoming less extreme, according to daily sea-level pressure records and climate model simulations.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02093-z

An analysis of data from 15 subduction zones finds no relationship between metrics of the topography of the plate interface and the largest earthquake it can generate, implying that this topography is not a key control on subduction zone seismicity.