Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A consistent global approach for morphometric characterisation of subaqueous landslides
Published: 2018-01-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Landslides are common in aquatic settings worldwide, from lakes and coastal environments to the deep-sea. Fast-moving, large volume landslides can potentially trigger destructive tsunamis. Landslides damage and disrupt global communication links and other critical marine infrastructure. Landslide deposits act as foci for localised, but important deep-seafloor biological communities. Under burial, [...]
Exploring carbonate reef flat hydrodynamics and potential formation and growth mechanisms for motu
Published: 2018-01-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Atolls, which develop as reef-building coral platforms extend to near sea level, typically consist of a shallow reef flat encircling a central lagoon. Often, sub-aerial islets, known as motu or reef islands, consisting of sand, gravel, and coral detritus, can be found perched on the reef flat. Here, we use hydrodynamic numerical modeling (XBeach) to better understand the role of waves and [...]
The effect of meteoric phreatic diagenesis and spring sapping on the formation of submarine collapse structures in the Biak Basin, Eastern Indonesia
Published: 2018-01-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The islands of Biak and Supiori, situated in the Bird’s Head region of New Guinea, comprise predominantly Neogene age carbonate units that extend offshore into the adjacent Biak Basin. Unusual geomorphologic features including pockmarks, headless canyons and semi-circular collapse structures identified in multibeam bathymetric imagery occur on the southern margin of the Biak Basin. These [...]
Local and Remote Influences on the Heat Content of the Labrador Sea: an Adjoint Sensitivity Study
Published: 2018-01-11
Subjects: Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Labrador Sea is one of the few regions on the planet where the interior ocean can exchange heat directly with the atmosphere via strong, localized, wintertime convection, with possible implications for the state of North Atlantic climate and global surface warming. Using an observationally-constrained ocean adjoint model, we find that annual mean Labrador Sea heat content is sensitive to [...]
Upscaling permeability in anisotropic volcanic systems
Published: 2018-01-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Permeability is an increasingly prevalent metric included in volcano modelling; however, it is a property that can exhibit anisotropy in volcanic environments. Permeability of a layered medium can be described by the arithmetic or harmonic means of the permeabilities of the constituent units, depending on the orientation of flow with respect to layering (i.e. flow parallel or perpendicular to [...]
Leaf trait acclimation amplifies simulated climate warming in response to elevated carbon dioxide
Published: 2018-01-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physiology, Plant Sciences
Vegetation modifies Earth’s climate by controlling the fluxes of energy, carbon, and water. Of critical importance is a better understanding of how vegetation responses to climate change will feedback on climate. Observations show that plant traits respond to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. These plant trait acclimations can alter leaf area and thus productivity and surface energy fluxes. [...]
Linked Geoscience Data in practice: Where W3C standards meet domain knowledge, data visualization and OGC standards
Published: 2018-01-10
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The geoscience community is now facing both the challenge and the opportunity caused by the vast amount of datasets that can be made available on the Web. An efficient “data environment” on the Web has the potential to enable geoscientists to conduct their research in ways that never existed before. Standards developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium have already been used widely to build data [...]
Moisture balance over the Iberian Peninsula according to a regional climate model: The impact of 3DVAR data assimilation.
Published: 2018-01-10
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
An analysis of the atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle by means of a 15 km resolution numerical integration performed using WRF nested in ERA Interim is presented. Two WRF experiments covering the period 2010-2014 were prepared. The first one (N) was configured as in standard numerical downscaling experiments. The second one (D), with the same parameterizations, included a step of 3DVAR [...]
River Restoration Design Framework
Published: 2018-01-10
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This preprint provides a design framework for river restoration and enhancement efforts. The preprint will be of interest to watershed stakeholder groups, jurisdictional permitting staff and river restoration practitioners.
Protected Places: A Survey of Laws on Archaeological Site and Cave Location Confidentiality and Their Potential Impact on Library Reference Policies and Services
Published: 2018-01-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Library and Information Science, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Librarians who work with maps and other forms of spatial information are often asked for information about the location of a place. These questions can range from the location of a village or farm where an ancestor lived to more cryptic questions, such as the location of the Garden of Eden based on its Biblical description. Most librarians will attempt to answer locational questions by directing [...]
Microstructural controls on the pressure-dependent permeability of Whitby Mudstone
Published: 2018-01-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A combination of permeability and ultrasonic velocity measurements allied with image analysis is used to distinguish the primary microstructural controls on effective-pressure dependent permeability. Permeabilities of cylindrical samples of Whitby Mudstone were measured using the oscillating pore pressure method at confining pressures ranging between 30-95 MPa and pore pressures ranging between [...]
Frontal and lateral submarine lobe fringes: Comparing sedimentary facies, architecture and flow processes
Published: 2018-01-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Submarine lobe fringe deposits form heterolithic successions that may include a high proportion of hybrid beds. The identification of lobe fringe successions aids interpretation of paleogeographic setting and the degree of basin confinement. Here, for the first time, the sedimentological and architectural differences between frontal and lateral lobe fringe deposits are investigated. Extensive [...]
Analysis of miscellaneous non-ambergris organic jetsam beach deposits
Published: 2018-01-05
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The analysis of a number of ad hoc samples of organic beach jetsam by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography (GC), high temperature GC (HTGC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) HTGC-MS and derivatisation, is described. Many of these samples were found by members of the public and handed in for analysis in the hope that the material was ambergris. Jetsam ambergris is [...]
Estimating regional flood discharge during Palaeocene-Eocene global warming (submitted)
Published: 2018-01-04
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Among the most urgent challenges in future climate change scenarios is accurately predicting the magnitude at which precipitation extremes will intensify. Analogous changes have been reported for an episode of millennial scale 5°C warming termed the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; 56 Ma), providing independent constraints on hydrological response to global warming. However, quantifying [...]
Communicating Unnatural Disasters
Published: 2018-01-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Risk Analysis, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Off the back of the 2017 hurricanes we extend the notion of human-influenced meteo-hydro hazards to include deeper geophysical events. We question where to place Human responsibility in a changing world, and we outline ways to bridge the gaps between scientist’s technical knowledge and ‘meaning’ as it is understood by people at risk. This short Op-ed has been rejected by Science after two rounds [...]