Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
On the potential of preprints in geochemistry: the good, the bad and the ugly
Published: 2020-03-21
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Library and Information Science, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Short communication on the use of preprint in geochemistry
Editorial: Geoscience in a time of pandemics
Published: 2020-03-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geography, Medical Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
We, the Executive Editors at Geoscience Communication, sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. We are in the midst of yet another global health crisis, the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This affects all of us, and we truly hope that you are remaining safe and taking all necessary precautions. We all are facing difficult times ahead, and we hope that we [...]
Rupture Kinematics of January 24, 2020 Mw 6.7 Doğanyol-Sivrice, Turkey Earthquake on the East Anatolian Fault Zone Imaged by Space Geodesy
Published: 2020-03-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Here we present the results of a kinematic slip model of the 2020 Mw 6.7 Doğanyol-Sivrice, Turkey Earthquake, the most important event in the last 50 years on the East Anatolian Fault zone. Our slip model is constrained by two Sentinel-1 interferograms and by 5 three-component high-rate GNSS recordings close to the earthquake source. We find that most of the slip occurs predominantly in three [...]
Sandy beaches can survive sea-level rise
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
It has been asserted by Vousdoukas et al., that climate change, in particular global sea-level rise (SLR), poses a threat to the existence of sandy beaches. The authors used global data bases of sandy beaches, bathymetry, wave conditions and SLR to drive a simple model based on the ‘Bruun Rule’ to quantitatively evaluate shoreline retreat. To this modelled retreat, they add a background ambient [...]
Seasonal Rainfall Forecasts for the Yangtze River Basin in Summer 2019 from an Improved Climate Service
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Rainfall forecasts for the summer monsoon season in the Yangtze River Basin allow decision-makers to plan for possible flooding, which can affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. A trial climate service was developed in 2016, producing a prototype seasonal forecast product for use by stakeholders in the region, based on forecasting rainfall directly using a dynamical model. Here [...]
Structural controls on the location, geometry, and longevity of an intraplate volcanic system - The Tuatara Volcanic Field, Great South Basin, New Zealand
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Intraplate volcanism is widely distributed across continental interiors. Yet controls on the location, 3D geometry, and longevity of many individual intraplate volcanic systems are often poorly understood. Geophysical and geodetic data provide insights into active intraplate magma plumbing systems, particularly when coupled with petrological and chemical analyses of volcanic products, but these [...]
Sedimentation and viscosity controls on forearc highs
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Crustal rheology and surface processes strongly influence strain distribution and shape of orogenic wedges at their front but how they influence the wedge rear is still unclear. Here, we analyze the coupled control of viscosity and sedimentation on forearc high growth during advanced stages of subduction accretion. We use 2D thermo-mechanical finite element models constrained with data of the [...]
Global dominance of tectonics over climate in shaping river longitudinal profiles
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
River networks are striking features engraved into Earths surface, shaped by uplift and erosion under the joint influence of climate and tectonics. How a river descends along its course – its longitudinal profile – varies greatly from one basin to the next, reflecting the interplay between uplift and erosional processes. It has recently been argued that climatic aridity should be a first-order [...]
The Last Glacial Maximum Balearic Abyssal Plain Megabed revisited
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Megabeds are thick sedimentary layers extending over thousands square kilometres in deep sea basins and are thought to result from large slope failures triggered by major external events. Such deposits have been found in at least three areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Although their discovery dates back to the early 1980s, many questions remain, concerning their initiation, source area, extent, [...]
Dynamic recrystallisation can produce porosity in shear zones
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Creep cavities are increasingly recognised as an important syn-kinematic feature of shear zones but much about this porosity needs investigation. Largely, observations of creep cavities are restricted to very fine grained mature ultramylonites and it is unclear when they developed during deformation. Specifically, a question that needs testing is; should grain-size reduction during deformation [...]
A spatial reconstruction of Siberian Last Glacial Maximum climate from pollen data
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 21.000 years before present) was a period with significantly colder global mean temperature, large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, and lower CO2 concentrations. Siberia was affected by a lower sea level which led to a closed Bering strait and a northward shift of the Arctic Ocean coastline. However, unlike other high-latitude areas, Siberia was not covered by [...]
A Serious Gaming Framework for Decision Support on Hydrological Hazards
Published: 2020-03-17
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Databases and Information Systems, Engineering, Environmental Education, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Software Engineering, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
In this study, a web-based decision support tool (DST) was developed for hydrological multi-hazard analysis while employing gamification techniques to introduce a competitive element. The serious gaming environment provides functionalities for intuitive management, visualization, and analysis of geospatial, hydrological, and economic data to help stakeholders in the decision-making process [...]
Space-time stress variations on the Palu-Koro fault impacting the 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu earthquake and its seismic hazards
Published: 2020-03-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In this study we calculated the Coulomb stress change before and after the 2018 Palu earthquake (Mw7.5) induced by historical large earthquakes on and around the Palu‐Koro fault (PKF) within Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. We found that the 1996 earthquake (Mw7.9) on the Minahassa thrust likely promoted the 2018 Palu earthquake by stress loading on its hypocenter. Stress shadows in the PKF impacted [...]
Improving the retrieval of offshore-onshore correlation functions with machine learning
Published: 2020-03-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The retrieval of reliable offshore-onshore correlation functions is critical to improve our ability to predict long-period ground motions from megathrust earthquakes. However, localized ambient seismic field sources between offshore and onshore stations can bias correlation functions and generate non-physical arrivals. We present a two-step method based on unsupervised learning to improve the [...]
Reply to “Global coastal wetland expansion under accelerated sea-level rise is unlikely”
Published: 2020-03-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
We thank Törnqvist et al. for engaging with our modelling study on the future response of global coastal wetlands to sea-level rise (SLR) and their careful and critical discussion of the presented methods and results. However, we disagree with their suggestion that our modelling approach is inadequate, a claim which relies on two arguments: (1) they argue that our results are inconsistent with [...]