Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Is the smoke aloft? Caveats regarding the use of the Hazard Mapping System (HMS) smoke product as a proxy for surface smoke presence across the United States
Published: 2023-09-14
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Background: NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System (HMS) smoke product comprises smoke plumes digitized from satellite imagery. Recent studies have used HMS as a proxy for surface smoke presence. Aims: We quantify how well HMS agrees with airport observations, air quality station measurements, and model estimates of near-surface smoke. Methods: We quantify the agreement in smoke days and trends, [...]
Robust estimates of the ratio between S- and P-wave velocity anomalies in the Earth's mantle using normal modes
Published: 2023-09-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Estimating Three-Dimensional Displacements with InSAR: the Strapdown Approach
Published: 2023-09-08
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Deformation phenomena on Earth are inherently three dimensional. With InSAR, in many practical situations the maximum number of observations is two (ascending and descending), resulting in an infinite number of possible displacement estimates. Here we propose a practical solution to this underdeterminancy problem in the form of the strapdown approach. With the strapdown approach it is possible to [...]
Soil moisture effects on InSAR - a correction approach and example from a hyper-arid region
Published: 2023-09-08
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present Interferometric Synthetic Aperture data spanning a series of precipitation events that impacted the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula in 2017-2018. The arid climate, sparse vegetation and low topographic relief result in very high interferometric coherence magnitude between most pairs of dates, even for those separated by multiple years. For pairs of dates with differing soil [...]
Machine Learning in Petrology: State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives
Published: 2023-09-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The present manuscript reports on the state-of-the-art and future perspectives of Machine Learning (ML) in petrology. To achieve this goal, it first introduces the basics of ML, including definitions, core concepts, and applications. Then, it starts reviewing the state-of-the-art of ML in petrology. Established applications mainly concern the so-called data-driven discovery and involve specific [...]
Mesozoic drift of the Wrangellia superterrane revisited: the way forward from paleomagnetic data
Published: 2023-09-08
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The allochthonous origin of the Wrangellia superterrane relative to North America has been established in the early days of plate tectonics using paleomagnetic and geological data. However, long-standing disagreement between paleomagnetic and structural studies on magnitude of northward translation of the Wrangellia superterrane during the Latest Cretaceous–earliest Cenozoic has cast doubt on the [...]
Reevaluating the oxidation effect of garnet crystallization
Published: 2023-09-05
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Garnet has been proposed to be an important fractionating phase during magmatic differentiation in thick volcanic arcs because garnet fractionation can reproduce the hallmarks of continental crust by driving residual magmas to higher silica, lower total iron, and higher iron oxidation states. Recently authors have measured the partition coefficients for Fe2+ and Fe3+ between garnet and melt and [...]
Reversal of the impact chain for actionable climate information
Published: 2023-09-02
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Escalating impacts of climate change underscore the risk of crossing thresholds of socio-ecological systems and adaptation limits. However, limitations in the provision of actionable climate information may hinder an adequate response. Here we suggest a reversal of the traditional impact chain methodology as an end-user focused approach to link local climate risks to emission pathways. We outline [...]
Tracking Changes in Magma Transport from Very-Long-Period seismic signals at Piton de la Fournaise volcano
Published: 2023-09-02
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Changes in magma properties and transport geometry can have a direct impact on volcanic activity. However, such variations can be difficult to track during eruptions. We report previously undetected very-long-period (VLP) signals at Piton de la Fournaise that can be used to probe changes in magma transport. Source analysis of VLP events during the August-October 2015 eruption indicates a source [...]
Garnet fracturing reveals ancient unstable slip events hosted in plate interface metasediments
Published: 2023-09-02
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A paradox exists between the great number of intermediate-depth earthquakes occurring along active subduction interfaces worldwide and the extreme scarcity of paleo-seismic events recorded in exhumed metasedimentary rocks from ancient subduction zones. Recrystallization, shearing as well as exhumation-related overprinting generally contribute to the nearly-complete erasing of markers of unstable [...]
Deformation and frictional failure of granular media in 3D analog and numerical experiments
Published: 2023-09-02
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Frictional sliding along grain boundaries in brittle shear zones can result in the fragmentation of individual grains, which ultimately can impact slip dynamics. During deformation at small scales, stick-slip motion can occur between grains when existing force chains break due to grain rearrangement or failure, resulting in frictional sliding of granular material. The rearrangement of the grains [...]
The Role of Continental Heterogeneity on the Evolution of Continental Margin Topography at Subduction Zones
Published: 2023-09-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The nature of the overriding plate plays a major role in shaping subduction zone processes. In particular, the highly heterogeneous continental lithosphere modulates intra-plate tectonics and the surface evolution of our planet. However, the role of continental heterogeneity is relatively under-explored for the dynamics of subduction models. We investigate the influence of rheological and density [...]
An Ice-Free Arctic Ocean During the Last Interglacial: An unsupported statement
Published: 2023-09-01
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Last Interglacial has attracted the attention of researchers as it was globally characterized by a climate optimum warmer than that of the preindustrial period. In particular, several attempts at reconstructing the Arctic Ocean sea-ice extent of this interval were made based on marine sedimentary archives, all failed to find clear evidence of sea-ice-free conditions. An article published [...]
Towards an astrochronological framework for the lower Paleoproterozoic Kuruman and Brockman Iron Formations
Published: 2023-09-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy
Recent evidence for astronomical-induced cycles in banded iron formations (BIFs) hints at the intriguing possibility of developing astrochronological, i.e. precise time-stratigraphic, frameworks for the earliest Proterozoic as also reconstructed for parts of the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. The ca 2.47-Ga Kuruman Iron Formation (Griqualand West Basin, South Africa) and Dales Gorge Member of the [...]
SeisMIC - an Open Source Python Toolset to Compute Velocity Changes from Ambient Seismic Noise
Published: 2023-09-01
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present SeisMIC, a fast, versatile, and adaptable open-source software to estimate seismic velocity changes from ambient seismic noise. SeisMIC includes a broad set of tools and functions to facilitate end-to-end processing of ambient noise data, from data retrieval and raw data analysis via spectrogram computation, over waveform coherence analysis, to post-processing of the final velocity [...]