Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Guidelines for Sensitivity Analyses in Process Simulations for Solid Earth Geosciences
Published: 2024-09-18
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Education, Partial Differential Equations, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Tectonics and Structure
Numerical simulations are widely used as tools to understand processes or to make predictions about states and their evolution in time. However, in the process of a simulation setup, a multitude of choices and simplifications have to be made - beginning from the definition of the implemented physical laws, over model discretization and spatial parameterisation, to the definition of initial and [...]
The fate of nitrogen in deep magma oceans
Published: 2024-09-18
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Nitrogen is important in planetary evolution because it is essential to life and the most abundant element in Earth’s atmosphere. Here, we investigate how core formation affects the distribution of N within accreting terrestrial planets. We conducted laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments (LH-DAC) over a wide range of high pressure-temperature-compositional (PTX) conditions (38-103 GPa, [...]
Half of anthropogenic warming now caused by fossil fuels
Published: 2024-09-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Many human activities influence the climate, such as burning fossil fuels, clearing land, growing food, and using refrigerants. Among these, fossil fuels have long been considered the primary driver of global warming. Here, the impact of fossil fuels on historical warming is reassessed using a climate emulator ensemble that accounts for key uncertainties. This reveals that, until the 2020s, [...]
Symmetry in mesoscale circulations explains weak impact of trade cumulus self-organisation on the radiation budget in large-eddy simulations
Published: 2024-09-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We investigate if mesoscale self-organisation of trade cumuli in 150 km-domain large-eddy simulations modifies the top-of-atmosphere radiation budget relative to 10 km-domain simulations, across 77 characteristic, idealised environments. In large domains, self-generated mesoscale circulations produce fewer, larger and deeper clouds, raising the cloud albedo. Yet they also precipitate more than [...]
Enhanced Blocking Frequencies in Very-high Resolution Idealized Climate Model Simulations
Published: 2024-09-05
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Atmospheric blocking is a key dynamical phenomenon in the mid- and high latitudes, able to drive day-to-day weather changes and meteorological extremes such as heatwaves, droughts and cold waves. Current global circulation models struggle to fully capture observed blocking frequencies, likely because of their coarse horizontal resolution. Here we use convection permitting, nested idealized model [...]
Slow true polar wander around varying equatorial axes since 320 Ma
Published: 2024-09-05
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
True polar wander (TPW), the rotation of the solid Earth relative to the spin axis, is driven by changes in the Earth's moment of inertia induced by mantle convection and may have influenced past climate and life. Long-term TPW is typically inferred from large polar shifts in paleomagnetic apparent polar wander paths or computed directly by rotating them in a mantle reference frame. However, most [...]
The formation and evolution of Earth’s inner core.
Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Growth of the inner core provides crucial power for generating the geomagnetic field and preserves a unique record of deep Earth evolution. The classical picture of inner core growth ignores the fact that the liquid core must have been supercooled below its melting temperature to spontaneously freeze the inner core. In this review we assess the impact of supercooling on inner core formation, [...]
Investigating Rayleigh wave anisotropy in faulted media with three-component beamforming: insights from numerical models and applications for geothermal exploration
Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Rayleigh waves are prevalent in the ambient seismic noise wavefield and are thus often exploited in passive seismic methods to characterise the near subsurface. In fractured or faulted media, Rayleigh waves show azimuthal anisotropy that could provide information on the fault properties. However, the exact relationship between Rayleigh wave anisotropy and true anisotropic structures is not well [...]
Signal-to-noise errors in early winter Euro-Atlantic predictions caused by weak ENSO teleconnections and pervasive North Atlantic jet biases
Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Long-range winter predictions over the Euro-Atlantic sector have demonstrated significant skill but suffer from systematic signal-to-noise errors. In this study we examine early winter seasonal predictability in 16 state-of-the-art seasonal forecasting systems. Models demonstrate skill in the hindcasts of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in early winter, which mostly projects onto the East [...]
Understanding the Importance of Stellar Birth and Evolution for a Comprehensive Understanding of the Sun and Other Stars
Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Stars are massive, luminous celestial bodies that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium gas, as well as other trace elements. Considered as the building blocks of galaxies, including our own Milky Way, and play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of the universe. In the context of the solar system, the Sun is the most important star. It is the center of the solar system, around [...]
Earlier streamflow in a snow-dwindling world
Published: 2024-09-02
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Impacts of climate change on water resources tend to be significant in regions where streamflow is substantially sourced as snowmelt from snowpacks1,2. In these areas, as the climate warms and the fraction of precipitation falling as snow (snow fraction, f_s) shrinks, streamflow is generally shifting toward earlier in the year by way of earlier snowmelt and increased proportional rainfall1,3,4. [...]
A 40-Year Remote Sensing Analysis of Spatiotemporal Temperature and Rainfall Patterns in Senegal
Published: 2024-08-31
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Climate change impacts manifest differently worldwide, with many African countries, including Senegal, being particularly vulnerable. The decline in ground observations and limited access to these observations continue to impede research efforts to understand, plan, and mitigate the current and future impacts of climate change. This occurs at a time of rapid growth in Earth observations (EO) [...]
Were the Newdigate Earthquakes, Southern England, of 2018-2019 triggered by oil extraction?
Published: 2024-08-30
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The ability to attribute earthquakes to specific causes is challenging. The 2018-2019 earthquake swarm in Newdigate, Surrey, Southern England, coincides with local oil extraction at Horse Hill. Nevertheless, it remains debated whether these earthquakes were triggered by oil extraction or whether they were coincidental. Due to the onset of seismic activity before major oil extraction and the lack [...]
Simultaneous deformation along the Main Ethiopian Rift and associated transversal lineaments: an analogue modelling perspective
Published: 2024-08-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The interaction between the NE-SW striking Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) and the E-W oriented Yerrer-Tullu Wellel Volcano-tectonic lineament (YTVL) represents one of the least understood tectonic problems in the East African Rift System. Despite the numerous studies that have been conducted in the region, the following questions still remain to be answered: did the MER and YTVL evolve simultaneously? [...]
Physical Mechanisms of Earthquake Nucleation and Foreshocks: Cascade Triggering, Aseismic Slip, or Fluid Flows?
Published: 2024-08-30
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Earthquakes are caused by the rapid rupture of their seismogenic faults. Whether large or small, there is inevitably a certain nucleation process involved before the dynamic rupture. At the same time, although not very common, significant foreshock activity has been observed before some large earthquakes. Understanding the nucleation process and foreshocks of earthquakes, especially large [...]