Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geology
Synchrotron radiation reveals transient weakening during mineral phase transformations
Published: 2024-05-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Mineral Physics, Tectonics and Structure
Phase transformations are widely invoked as a source of rheological weakening during subduction, continental collision, mantle convection, and various other geodynamic phenomena. However, the likelihood and magnitude of such weakening in nature remains undetermined. Here, experiments performed on a synchrotron beamline reveal dramatic weakening across the polymorphic quartz↔coesite phase [...]
The fate of bars in braided rivers
Published: 2024-05-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Ancient river deposits are important archives of past landscape conditions on planetary surfaces. On Earth, they host valuable groundwater, energy resources, and carbon-storage potential. Reconstructing details of paleochannel forms and movements refines our understanding of the controls on river behavior under different climate, landcover, and tectonic conditions, and improves predictions and [...]
How do ancient mass-transport complexes influence subsequent failure events? A case study from the Kangaroo Syncline, offshore NW Australia
Published: 2024-05-03
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology
Mass-transport complexes (MTCs) are common features in all continental margins. In some passive margins, accumulations of stacked MTCs indicate repeated slope failure, which raises the question of whether MTC emplacement may influence or even pre-condition, subsequent slope failures. Here, we use 3D seismic reflection data from the Kangaroo Syncline, NW Australia, to investigate how pre-existing [...]
The potential of terrestrial and aquatic molluscs for the temporal analysis of Deckenschotter deposits and younger Quaternary sediments from the Swiss Plateau
Published: 2024-05-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Stratigraphy, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Post-collisional reorganisation of the Eastern Alps in 4D: Crust and mantle structure
Published: 2024-04-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology
The Eastern Alps were affected by a profound post-collisional tectonic reorganisation in Neogene time, featuring indentation by the Adriatic upper plate, rapid uplift and filling of the eastern Molasse Basin, rapid exhumation and eastward orogen-parallel transport of Tertiary metamorphic units in the orogenic core, and a shift from northward thrust propagation in the European plate to southward [...]
Limited long-term cooling effects of flood basalt emplacements
Published: 2024-04-22
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Volcanology
The emplacement of large igneous provinces (LIPs) is known to have been a driver of climate change in Earth’s past, particularly during the breakup of Pangaea. However, the balance between climate warming through CO2 emission and climate cooling through increased weathering is poorly understood. To better understand the role of LIP emplacement on long-term climate change, we utilize a coupled [...]
Systematic Review of the Geothermal Potential in Colombia: Implications as an Alternative Energy Source
Published: 2024-04-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Through literature review and information processing, the current state of geothermal energy in Colombia, its limitations, possible future uses, environmental impact and the current legal framework were described and analyzed. Approximations were made regarding the sustainability of geothermal energy in the country and its implications. Some of the projects, studies, and research that have been [...]
Digitising sandbox experiments using open-source Structure-from-Motion/photogrammetry/Digital Image Correlation package MicMac
Published: 2024-04-15
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Structure-from-Motion and photogrammetry have been implemented in sandbox models to monitor deformation of their surface. Various software packages are available, either open-source of commercial. Some commercial packages are intuitive press-button equipment; these can be very practical to use, but they can be very expensive and unaffordable for most academic laboratories. Another option is [...]
Evolution and architecture of an exhumed ocean-facing coarse-grained submarine canyon fill, Baja California, Mexico
Published: 2024-04-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Present day submarine canyons are active conduits for large volumes of sediment, carbon, and pollutants from continents to oceans. However, the evolution of submarine canyons over geological timescales remains poorly understood due to their erosional nature and low preservation potential. The Late Cretaceous Punta Baja Formation represents a well-preserved submarine canyon-fill on a [...]
Permeability Characterisation of Sedimentological Facies in the Bunter Sandstone Formation, Endurance CO2 Storage Site, Offshore UK
Published: 2024-04-05
Subjects: Geology
Permeability variations due to sedimentological heterogeneity are important in controlling CO2 migration pathways, CO2 plume dynamics, and stratigraphic, capillary and dissolution trapping of CO2 in subsurface storage units and complexes. Thus, knowing these parameters is crucial to developing a CO2 injection strategy that maximizes storage and trapping efficiency. In this study we analyzed the [...]
Using mixed siliciclastic-bioclastic sediments as a natural analogue for plastic-rich systems
Published: 2024-04-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Sedimentology
Mixed siliciclastic-bioclastic sediments and systems represent an analogue to understanding the behaviour and impact of plastic sediments in natural environments. The integration of knowledge derived from different mixed systems can enhance our comprehension of depositional processes, bedform morphology, and plastic distribution as well as assess the potentiality of siliciclastic-bioclastic [...]
Grüneisen parameter formalism in the study of the Earth's core formation: a sensitivity study
Published: 2024-03-21
Subjects: Condensed Matter Physics, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Mineral Physics, Other Earth Sciences, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Mineral Physics, Planetary Sciences
The Grüneisen parameter is an important parameter for the thermal state and evolution of the core, but its uncertainties and their implications are sometimes overlooked . Several formalisms using different parameters values have been used in different studies, making comparison between studies difficult. In this paper, we use previously published datasets to test the sensitivity of modeling the [...]
Assessing the mean output rate (MOR) of past effusive basaltic eruptions - a look at the postglacial volcanism of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland
Published: 2024-03-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Volcanological approaches for assessing the effusion rate of past effusive volcanism are of great importance, to enable proper evaluation of the eruption magnitude and past tectono-magmatic conditions which are relevant for mitigating future volcanism. The reactivation of volcanism on the Reykjanes peninsula in 2021 after an 800-year hiatus, has incited the need for assessing the potential scale [...]
The role of salt diapirism in controlling the sedimentology and distribution of deep-water deposits, Pierce Field, East Central Graben, North Sea
Published: 2024-03-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Sedimentology, Tectonics and Structure
Passively rising diapirs control flank deformation (i.e., within 1 km of the salt-sediment interface) and resultant stratigraphic architecture of syn-kinematic units. Growth strata associated with deformation at the flanks of passive diapirs are known as halokinetic sequences. Very few studies have conducted an integrated analysis of composite halokinetic sequences, CHS (stacked halokinetic [...]
Early extensional salt tectonics controls deep-water sediment dispersal
Published: 2024-02-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Sedimentology
The impact of seafloor deformation on sediment routing during the initial phases of extensional salt tectonics is largely unresolved despite influencing the volume of coarse-grained clastic material delivered to the deep sea. Using 3D seismic reflection data from the northern Levant Basin offshore Lebanon, we investigate the interplay between early extension-related salt deformation and [...]