Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Calculating Standardised Indices Using SEI
Published: 2023-11-21
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Standardised indices are measurements of variables on a standardised scale. The standardised scale facilitates comparisons between different variables, and its probabilistic interpretation means the indices are effective for risk management and decision making. Standardised indices have become popular in weather and climate settings, for example within operational drought monitoring systems, and [...]
Evidence that seismic anisotropy captures upstream palaeo ice fabric: Implications on present day deformation at Whillans Ice Stream, Antarctica
Published: 2023-11-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Understanding deformation and slip at ice streams, which are responsible for 90% of Antarctic ice loss, is vital for accurately modelling large-scale ice flow. Ice crystal orientation fabric (COF) has a first-order effect on ice stream deformation. For the first time, we use shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements of basal icequakes at Whillans Ice Stream (WIS), Antarctica, to determine a [...]
Downsystem Grain-Size Trends and Mass Balance of an Ancient Wave-Influenced Sediment Routing System: Middle Jurassic Brent Delta, Northern North Sea, Offshore UK and Norway
Published: 2023-11-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
We reconstruct upsystem-to-downsystem grain-size variations in the sediment routing systems of the data-rich Middle Jurassic Brent Group of the northern North Sea, using published stratigraphic, thickness, palaeogeographic, provenance and age constraints combined with representative core and wireline-log data. Facies associations provide a textural proxy for gravel, sand and mud grain-size [...]
Helium, carbon and nitrogen isotope evidence for slab influence on volcanic gas emissions at Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2023-11-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The chemical and isotopic composition of the gases emitted by subduction zone volcanoes can provide insights into the origin of magmatic volatiles. In volcanic arcs, magmatic volatiles and therefore emitted gases can be supplied from the mantle, the subducting slab, or the rocks of the arc crust. Determining the relative contributions of these distinct sources is important for understanding the [...]
Bad science and good intentions prevent effective climate action
Published: 2023-11-10
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Although the 2015 Paris Agreement climate targets seem certain to be missed, only a few experts are questioning the adequacy of the current approach to limiting climate change and suggesting that additional approaches are needed to avoid unacceptable catastrophes. This article posits that selective science communication and unrealistically optimistic assumptions are obscuring the reality that [...]
In-situ quantification of carbonate species concentrations, pH and pCO2 in calcite fluid inclusions using confocal Raman spectroscopy.
Published: 2023-11-10
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Carbonate minerals are globally distributed on the modern and ancient Earth and are abundant in terrestrial and marine depositional environments. Fluid inclusions hosted by calcite retain primary signatures of the source fluid geochemistry at the time of mineral formation (i.e., pCO2) and can be used to reconstruct paleoenvironments. Confocal laser Raman spectroscopy provides a quick, [...]
A late response of the sea-ice cover to Neoglacial cooling in the western Barents Sea
Published: 2023-11-09
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In high northern latitudes, the Middle to Late Holocene was a time of orbitally-induced atmospheric cooling. This led to increased sea-ice production in the Arctic Ocean and its export southward, a decrease in sea surface temperatures (SST), and glacier advances at least since 5-4 ka BP. However, the response of the ocean-climate system to decreasing insolation was not uniform. Our research shows [...]
Groundwater Ages in Intertill and Buried Valley Aquifers in Saskatchewan, Canada
Published: 2023-11-08
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Continental glaciations during the Pleistocene Epoch created complex systems of aquifers and aquitards across many northern regions of the Earth. The low hydraulic conductivities of glacial till aquitards suggest that limited recharge will reach the underlying aquifers, potentially preserving old groundwaters. Here, we characterize the recharge history in intertill and buried valley aquifers in [...]
Impact of altimeter-buoy data pairing methods on the validation of Sentinel-3A coastal significant wave heights
Published: 2023-11-07
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sea state information is critical for a broad range of human activities (e.g. shipping, marine energy, marine engineering) most of them being concentrated along the coastal zone. Satellite altimeter records of significant wave heights (SWH) represent the largest source of sea state observations available to date. However, the quality of altimeter observations is reduced in the coastal zone due to [...]
Transgression–regression cycles drive correlations in Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records
Published: 2023-11-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy
Strata of the Ediacaran Period (635–538.8 Ma) yield the oldest known fossils of complex, macroscopic organisms in the geologic record. These “Ediacaran-type” macrofossils (known as the Ediacaran biota) first appear in mid-Ediacaran strata, experience an apparent decline through the terminal Ediacaran, and directly precede the Cambrian (538.8–485.4 Ma) radiation of animals. Existing hypotheses for [...]
Deep Learning for Deep Earthquakes: Insights from OBS Observations of the Tonga Subduction Zone
Published: 2023-11-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Applications of machine learning in seismology have greatly improved our capability of detecting earthquakes in large seismic data archives. Most of these efforts have been focused on continental shallow earthquakes, but here we introduce an integrated deep-learning-based workflow to detect deep earthquakes recorded by a temporary array of ocean-bottom seismographs (OBSs) and land-based stations [...]
Warm Arctic-Cold Eurasia Pattern Driven by Atmospheric Blocking in Models and Observations
Published: 2023-11-04
Subjects: Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Microphysical evolution in mixed-phase mid-latitude marine cold-air outbreaks
Published: 2023-11-03
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Five cold-air outbreaks are investigated with aircraft offshore of continental northeast American. Flight paths aligned with the cloud-layer flow span cloud-top temperatures of -5 to -12 0C, in situ liquid water paths of up to 600 g m-2, while in situ cloud droplet number concentrations exceeding 500 cm-3 maintain effective radii below 10 micron. Ice is usually present at cloud initiation. [...]
Paleogeography and 3D variability of a dynamically uplifted shelf: observations from seismic stratigraphy of the Paleocene East Shetland Platform
Published: 2023-11-03
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In the Paleocene North Sea, pulses in turbidite fan deposition and shelfal progradation have been correlated to episodes of regional uplift caused by a precursor of the Icelandic Plume. However, in the East Shetland Platform, the specific impacts of dynamic uplift on the regional paleogeographic evolution are less understood. Using new, high resolution 3D seismic data from an underexplored [...]
WITHDRAWN: Magma as a generator of plasma and thermonuclear reactions in the bowels of the Earth?
Published: 2023-11-02
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Abstract removed when submission was withdrawn.