Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Storm life cycle modulates extreme hydroclimate impact risk: a Great Lakes Region case study
Published: 2026-04-18
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Fresh Water Studies, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Extratropical cyclones (ETCs) drive hydroclimate variability in the Great Lakes, yet their impacts vary widely between events. Here, we classify ETCs into two storm types using an unsupervised clustering approach based on storm properties and evolution. The resulting classes differ systematically in life cycle stage at Great Lakes entry. Using bootstrap-estimated risk ratios and risk differences, [...]
Beyond universal access: mapping regional inequalities and spatial coldspots in India’s WaSH sector toward SDG 6
Published: 2026-04-17
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
National averages can conceal significant sectoral disparities and long-standing subnational injustices, despite the fact that India’s flagship programs had significantly improved access to water and sanitation. This report provided a thorough, data-driven evaluation of the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) in all 37 Indian states and union territories (UTs) using 25 indicators. Pearson’s [...]
Meteorite Classification Using Triple Oxygen Isotopes
Published: 2026-04-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
For decades, measurements of all three isotopes of oxygen have been made in a handful of specialized laboratories around the world. These measurements either confirm meteorite classifications or prevent misclassification of terrestrial materials. Isotope geochemists making these measurements, in collaboration with meteorite enthusiasts and scientists, frequently receive questions regarding best [...]
Beyond national averages: a multi-method assessment of sub-national environmental sustainability and inequality in India
Published: 2026-04-17
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
India’s rapid economic growth regularly jeopardizes its environmental foundation, although important sub-national differences were typically hidden by national-level evaluations. For all 37 Indian states and union territories (UTs), this study creates the Composite index of Environmental Sustainability (CoES), a comprehensive multi-dimensional framework that integrates 36 indicators across 4 [...]
VolcAshDB open services for visualization and semi-automated classification of volcanic ash particles
Published: 2026-04-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Volcanic ash particles contain critical pieces of information about their origin and the processes driving the eruptive activity. However, the classification of particles into different types (juvenile, lithic, free crystal, altered material) is not standardized and varies from observer to observer. As a result, datasets produced by different research groups are often difficult or not possible to [...]
A moving wave probe reveals a friction kernel hidden by phase averaging in turbulence
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Fluid Dynamics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Coarse-graining routinely discards fluctuations whose one-time mean vanishes, yet irreversible transport is controlled by two-time correlations. Here we introduce a moving-probe protocol that detects transport channels hidden by this discard operation. A prescribed wave-like carrier isolates a chosen bilinear coupling in a stochastic bath. Three falsifiable controls distinguish genuine [...]
The Geological Pathway Diversity Model (GPDM): A Unified Classification and Predictive Framework for Anomalous Luminous Phenomena
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Anomalous luminous phenomena - recurring visible plasma events at fixed geographic locations, reported globally over centuries as earth lights, earthquake lights, and spook lights - lack a unified physical classification system and predictive framework. We present the Geological Pathway Diversity Model (GPDM), which proposes that these phenomena share a common underlying mechanism - Freund's [...]
Width-Saturated Fault Scaling and AI-Driven Seismic Hazard: A Global First-Principles Machine Learning Framework
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Traditional probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) relies on empirical magnitude-area scaling relationships that systematically overestimate energy release in large, geometrically saturated fault systems. This study presents a dynamic, data-driven framework integrating first-principles geophysics with Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) to produce a physics-informed global seismic hazard [...]
A Google Earth Engine Tool for Mapping Key Metrics of Glacier Health from Space
Published: 2026-04-15
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Satellite-based observations enable monitoring of glacier health metrics, essential for assessing glacier response to climate change and the environmental services they provide. Here, we present a Google Earth Engine tool for automated mapping of key climate- and mass balance- modulated parameters, including total visible ice area, snow-covered area (SCA), accumulation-area ratio, and snowline [...]
Estimating the ice thickness and water depth of a frozen lake using flexural waves recorded by distributed acoustic sensing
Published: 2026-04-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Information about frozen lakes, including ice rigidity, ice thickness, and water depth, is essential for both environmental studies and practical applications. Although these properties can be measured in the field, such measurements are labor-intensive and spatially limited, motivating the development of alternative observation methods. Seismic waves offer an alternative approach to studying [...]
Geospatial Machine Learning for Predicting Flash Flood Response at Ungauged Appalachian Watersheds: Terrain, Soil, and Land Cover Controls
Published: 2026-04-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Flash floods remain among the deadliest weather hazards in the United States, yet the majority of flood-prone watersheds in the Appalachian region lack streamflow monitoring. Predicting flood response characteristics at these ungauged sites requires understanding which landscape properties control hydrologic behavior. This study evaluates whether geospatial basin descriptors derived from [...]
Paleoarchean seawater and seafloor hydrothermal processes: insights from 3.5 to 3.3 Ga carbonate geochemistry
Published: 2026-04-13
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Carbonates (3.5 to 3.3 Ga) in the East Pilbara Terrane (EPT), Western Australia, including interstitial carbonate between pillow basalts, fracture-filling calcite, sedimentary carbonates and carbonate associated with stromatolites, provide valuable geochemical archives for reconstructing Early Earth environments. This study highlights three key findings: (1) Fracture-filling calcite D-2-W from [...]
Agent-based Modelling of Microbialite Formation through Sedimentation and Precipitation Dynamics
Published: 2026-04-13
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Other Earth Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Fossil microbialites resulting from the interplay of sedimentation and microbially induced precipitation are among the oldest evidence of life on Earth and help geobiologists interpret many sedimentary environments. However, the factors governing their internal structure and external morphology are still poorly understood. Additionally, abiotic processes can mimic the morphology of some [...]
Learning-Based Methods and the Future of Numerical Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling
Published: 2026-04-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The field of operational oceanography is undergoing a significant evolution with the increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) methods, which are complementing and, in some cases, redefining traditional numerical modeling approaches. This review explores how AI methods—particularly model-based autoregressive emulators, hybrid modeling, and end-to-end model-free approaches—are [...]
Fractal Tomography and the Fisher Information Barrier of Seismicity: Addressing the Origin of Dual Paradoxes via Precision-Calibrated Bayesian Inference
Published: 2026-04-11
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Non-linear Dynamics, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Tectonics and Structure
The spatial organization of seismicity presents dual multi-decade paradoxes: (1) earthquake catalogs exhibit quasi-planar correlation dimensions (D2 ≈ 2.0–2.6) despite volumetric lithospheric deformation (geometric projection paradox), and (2) Bayesian inference systematically yields D3 ≈ 3.0 contradicting structural geology (Bayesian saturation paradox). We address both through the Fractal [...]