Geoscience Letters is the official journal of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, and a fully open access journal published under the SpringerOpen brand. The journal publishes original, innovative and timely research letter articles and concise reviews on studies of the Earth and its environment, the planetary and space sciences. Contributions reflect the eight scientific sections of the AOGS: Atmospheric Sciences, Biogeosciences, Hydrological Sciences, Interdisciplinary Geosciences, Ocean Sciences, Planetary Sciences, Solar and Terrestrial Sciences, and Solid Earth Sciences. Geoscience Letters focuses on cutting-edge fundamental and applied research in the broad field of the geosciences, including the applications of geoscience research to societal problems. This journal is Open Access, providing rapid electronic publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific contributions. Geoscience Letters accepts five types of manuscript submissions: Research Letters, Reviews, Letters to the Editor, Comment and Reply to Comment. These are described below. For all types of articles, the word limits include figures, which are counted as 200 to 500 words each, depending on the size. Research Letters These are concise reports on original research. The word count is approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words. Reviews Reviews are longer manuscripts, with words counts permitted up to 10,000 words. Articles may include, but are not limited to, the following: systematic and substantial syntheses of specific research areas, evaluations of progress in specified areas, critical assessments on issues within the scope of Geoscience Letters. Letter to the Editor (Correspondence) A Letter to the Editor is a short note on a significant new finding, breakthrough or similar, or on a current topic of scientific news, which is of broad appeal to the readership of Geoscience Letters. The word count is between 300 and 800 words. Letters to the Editor do not attract article processing charges (APCs). They may be edited for clarity or length and may be subject to peer review at the Editors’ discretion. Comment Comment articles are short scholarly contributions, typically less than 2,000 words, that provide a focused critique, clarification, or discussion of specific aspects of a paper published in Geoscience Letters normally within the previous six months (with exceptions at the Editors’ discretion). A Comment must explicitly reference the article being discussed and should concentrate on the methodology, data, findings, interpretation or conclusions. Comments are subject to editorial assessment and, where appropriate, peer review at the discretion of the Editors. Upon acceptance of a Comment, the authors of the original paper will be invited to submit a Reply to Comment. Comment articles do not attract article processing charges (APCs). Reply to Comment A Reply to Comment article provides the authors of an original paper in Geoscience Letters with an opportunity to respond to a Comment on their published work. Replies are typically invited by the Editors and are usually less than 2,000 words. They are published together with or linked to the corresponding Comment. Replies may be subject to editorial assessment and, where appropriate, peer review at the discretion of the Editors. They do not attract any article processing charges (APCs). .