Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Nearly three decades of laser altimetry reveal strong regional contrasts and glacier-driven ice losses in Greenland
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Greenland Ice Sheet, a major contributor to sea-level rise, loses mass through complex processes that are not fully understood. Laser altimetry provides direct and accurate measurements of ice sheet surface elevation. Here, we present the first continuous, laser altimetry-based annual reconstruction of Greenland Ice Sheet mass change from 1994 to 2020 at 1 km horizontal resolution. Our novel [...]
Comparative analysis of mass balance estimates since 1959 at Mittivakkat Gletsjer (SE Greenland)
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Mittivakkat Gletsjer (MIT) has the longest glaciological surface mass balance (SMB) record of any peripheral glacier in Greenland. In this study, we utilize the glaciological SMB record, calibrate SMB from the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO), and calculate geodetic mass balance (MB) to provide a multi-methodic assessment of trends in SMB. Glaciological SMB and modelled SMB correlate [...]
Spectral seismic interferometry: Efficient monitoring of unbiased seismic velocity changes at high temporal resolution
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ambient noise based monitoring of subsurface velocity changes does not require the explicit retrieval of Green's functions by correlation. Velocity variations can directly be observed from the fluctuations in the spectrograms of ambient noise time series or their cross-spectra. This approach is more resource efficient than the conventional Green's function based monitoring and ideally suited for [...]
Seismological models based on a hybrid deep-learning strategy reveal tectonic features and earthquake risk in the Sichuan-Yunnan region
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Sichuan-Yunnan region is a critical tectonic zone for understanding continental deformation and seismic hazards. We developed a hybrid deep-learning strategy that integrates multi-scale phase picking and high-precision first-motion polarity identification, significantly improving regional seismic monitoring. This approach yielded a unified 2013-2022 high-resolution dataset, including -180,000 [...]
Dataset of DInSAR wrapped phase signals for AI-based automated detection and classification of mass movements
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
With the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in remote sensing of mass movements, available datasets for model training and validation are increasingly needed. Although Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) is a widely used technique for studying mass movements, wrapped interferograms remain less exploited, and the importance of geomorphological expertise in their [...]
Buoyancy of volatile-rich kimberlite melts, magma ascent, and xenolith transport
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Kimberlite melts are primary carriers of mantle-derived carbon and hydrogen, playing an important role in Earth’s deep carbon cycle and diamond transport. Their low densities, viscosities, and vapor exsolution enable fast ascent rates. Ascending from the upper mantle, kimberlite melts incorporate xenoliths and xenocrysts and exsolve volatiles. These processes alter their initial composition, [...]
MJO Phase-Response Diagnostic Skill Reflects Convective Regime Contingency Beyond Coupling Strength Across Tropical Sites
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
MJO phase composites are the standard tool for building tropical rainfall diagnostic frameworks. The coupling strength between the MJO phase and local rainfall is routinely used to justify their application. Whether coupling strength alone guarantees diagnostic skill — or whether the nature of the underlying convective regime is the additional governing condition — has not been examined. We [...]
Atsusa samusa mo higan made: Statistical validation of a Japanese weather proverb across eight stations over 76 years
Published: 2026-03-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Background: Weather proverbs encode centuries of observational knowledge, yet few have been subjected to rigorous statistical testing. The Japanese proverb atsusa samusa mo higan made ("heat and cold last only until the equinox") asserts that seasonal temperature transitions coincide with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Despite growing international interest in weather folklore verification, [...]
Ice Surface Change Drives Subglacial Hydrologic Reorganization and Interior Speedup in Northwest Greenland
Published: 2026-03-22
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
ABSTRACT. Changes in ice surface elevation and slope influence subglacial water pressure and sliding velocity. Leveraging decadal scale changes in ele- vation observed by the Ice, Cloud, and land-Elevation satellite (ICESat) and ICESat-2 missions, we use coupled subglacial hydrology–ice dynamics model- ing applied to a section of the northwest Greenland Ice Sheet to explore i) how decadal scale [...]
A universal law for non-breaking surface wave decay
Published: 2026-03-22
Subjects: Fluid Dynamics, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Macroscopic friction can emerge from microscopic fluctuations whose mean vanishes but whose autocorrelation does not. Here we use this statistical-mechanical route to resolve a sixty-year-old problem in ocean wave physics, how non-breaking surface waves lose energy to upper-ocean turbulence. The Navier-Stokes equations contain a stochastic vortex force (the coupling between wave orbital motion [...]
Tectonic reconstruction
Published: 2026-03-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This is a book chapter that explains tectonic reconstruction techniques, from the field to the plate scale. It is directed at field geologists who want to place their detailed observations in regional (plate) tectonic context, relative to major plates, mantle or spin axis.
Spectral signatures in satellite soil moisture reveal irrigation patterns across the contiguous United States
Published: 2026-03-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Irrigation profoundly alters the terrestrial water cycle, yet its spatial distribution and temporal variability remain poorly constrained. Here, we introduce a new approach to detect irrigation in space based on spectral differences between modelled and satellite-observed soil moisture time series. Using wavelet decomposition, we isolate irrigation-induced variability at sub-annual scales by [...]
Bimodal seismic-aseismic behavior of a weakly coupled megathrust segment revealed by kinematic analysis of a seismic swarm and slow slip event offshore Copiapó, Chile
Published: 2026-03-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A seismic swarm occurred in Chile in 2023, in a region well known for hosting this type of seismicity, the Atacama region, and more precisely within the low coupling zone of Barranquilla. It started on August 26th and lasts about 6~weeks, ending early October. Thanks to our high-density small-scale GNSS network, we recorded the spatio-temporal evolution of surface deformation generated by a slow [...]
Investigating the application of LLMs to invertebrate palaeontology through the development of automated taxonomy assistants for brachiopod identification
Published: 2026-03-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Taxonomic identification is a central practice in palaeontology, underpinning biostratigraphic correlations, palaeobiogeographic reconstructions, and analyses of macroevolutionary patterns. Despite its importance, taxonomy depends on a limited number of specialists and on the synthesis of extensive descriptive literature that is often difficult to access. Recent developments in artificial [...]
Temporal Analysis of Site-Level Methane Emissions from Nearly One Thousand Upstream Oil and Gas Facilities Equipped with Fixed-Point Continuous Monitoring Systems
Published: 2026-03-18
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Temporal variability in methane emissions from oil and gas facilities may significantly impact the accuracy of measurement-based emissions inventories and the effectiveness of measurement-based mitigation policies. Yet the existing knowledge of duration, frequency, and magnitude of emission events remains very limited. A deeper understanding of these temporal characteristics is therefore [...]