Nature Geoscience, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-01962-x

Two river systems that drained into the partially desiccated Late Miocene Mediterranean later coalesced into the modern Euphrates River as regional uplift redirected drainage to the Persian Gulf, according to geomorphic mapping and sediment modelling.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02002-4

Ongoing climate warming is heating lake sediments worldwide. Model simulations indicate that sediment heatwaves will intensify and become increasingly pervasive under climate change, with the potential to increase methane production and sediment respiration.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-01986-3

Model analyses and projections of sediment heatwave duration, intensity and frequency across 41,499 representative lakes suggest that lake sediment heatwaves are more persistent and frequent than lake surface heatwaves and will intensify under global warming.

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-01996-1

Global soil mineral data from orbital spectroscopy reduce uncertainty in dust’s solar radiative impact and improve estimates of Earth’s energy imbalance, according to analyses integrating high-resolution soil composition into Earth system models.