Issues

COVER: Scientists from Harvard University and Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory/Columbia University wait to retrieve a marine sediment core on the deck of the R/V Atlantis in the northeast Pacific Ocean near the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge. The corer had previously descended to a depth of over 2000 m, collecting a cylindrical core of seafloor sediment. Due to the proximity to the volcanically active ridge, these sediments contain small particles of volcanic glass, dispersed and deposited during ocean floor eruptions. Glasses sampled from successive layers of the sediment provide an unusually detailed record of magmatic activity at the ridge over many tens of thousands of years. See “A 65 k.y. time series from sediment-hosted glasses reveals rapid transitions in ocean ridge magmas” by Ferguson et al., p. 491–494.

Photo by: David Ferguson

Cover design by: Heather L. Sutphin