Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Two seismic events from InSight confirmed as new impacts on Mars
Published: 2023-03-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We report confirmed impact sources for two seismic events on Mars detected by the NASA InSight mission. These events have been positively associated with fresh impact craters identified from orbital images, which match predicted locations and sizes, and have formation time constraints consistent with the seismic event dates. They are both of the Very High Frequency family of seismic events and [...]
Production and Preservation of Lipid Biosignatures in SO4-Rich Hypersaline Lakes of the Cariboo Plateau
Published: 2023-03-13
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Modern and ancient hypersaline lakes and oceans have been identified across the solar system, but the habitability and potential of these environments to preserve organic matter remain unknown. Here, we evaluate organic matter production and preservation potential in hypersaline lakes whose chemistries resemble deposits on Mars. We focus our analysis on lipid biomarkers including fatty acids, [...]
Seasonality in carbon flux attenuation explains spatial variability in transfer efficiency
Published: 2023-03-13
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Each year, the biological carbon pump is responsible for converting carbon dioxide into millions of tonnes of organic carbon, and for transferring a fraction of it to the deep ocean, where it can remain for hundreds of years. The efficiency of this surface-to-depth carbon transfer varies geographically, and is a key determinant of the atmosphere-ocean carbon dioxide balance. Traditionally, the [...]
Worldwide consequences of a mid-Holocene cooling in the Nordic Seas
Published: 2023-03-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Earth's climate, marked by long-term shifts and punctuated events, shapes terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Despite the present interglacial period's warmth and stability compared to preceding glaciations, the Holocene has witnessed significant cooling events with worldwide consequences. Leveraging marine records from the Nordic Seas, we provide the first detailed account of a cooling event [...]
Structure and Morphology of an Active Conjugate Relay Zone, Messina Strait, Southern Italy
Published: 2023-03-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Messina Strait is a narrow fault-bounded marine basin that separates the Calabrian peninsula from Sicily in southern Italy. It sits in a seismically active region where normal fault scarps and raised Quaternary marine terraces record ongoing extension driven by southeastward rollback of the Calabrian subduction zone. A review of published studies and new data shows that normal faults in the [...]
A Novel Heuristic Method for Detecting Overfit in Unsupervised Classification of Climate Model Data
Published: 2023-03-11
Subjects: Analysis, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Unsupervised classification is becoming an increasingly common method to objectively identify coherent structures within both observed and modelled climate data. However, in most applications using this method, the user must choose the number of classes into which the data are to be sorted in advance. Typically, a combination of statistical methods and expertise is used to choose the appropriate [...]
Largest aftershock nucleation driven by afterslip during the 2014 Iquique sequence
Published: 2023-03-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Various earthquake models predict that aseismic slip modulates the seismic rupture process but actual observations of such seismic-aseismic interaction are scarce. We analyze seismic and aseismic processes during the 2014 Iquique earthquake sequence. High-rate Global Positioning System (GPS) displacements demonstrate that most of the early afterslip is located downdip of the M 8.1 mainshock and [...]
Steady decline in mean annual air temperatures in the first 30 ka after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary
Published: 2023-03-06
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary marks one of the five major mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. How the climate system responded to a bolide impact and extensive volcanism at this time over different timescales is highly debated. Here we use the distribution of branched tetraether lipids (brGDGT) from fossil peats at two sites in Saskatchewan, Canada (paleolatitude ~55°N), to generate a [...]
Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity: Report of a survey of its members and others by the Mineralogical Society of the UK and Ireland
Published: 2023-03-04
Subjects: Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
During its November 2020 Council meeting, the Mineralogical Society decided to conduct a survey of its members and others to assess views on equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in terms of the experience of individuals. Although many organizations, including Learned Societies, have developed policy on the basis of surveys, meetings at executive and other committee level, and through the [...]
Data-driven placement of PM2.5 air quality sensors in the United States: An approach to target urban environmental injustice
Published: 2023-03-04
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In the United States, citizens and policymakers heavily rely upon Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated regulatory networks to monitor air pollution; increasingly they also depend on low-cost sensor networks to supplement spatial gaps in regulatory monitor networks coverage. Although these regulatory and low-cost networks in tandem provide enhanced spatiotemporal coverage in urban areas, [...]
Glacier projections sensitivity to temperature-index model choices and calibration strategies
Published: 2023-03-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Glacier models contribute significantly to the uncertainty of glacier change projections. In this study, we focus on temperature-index mass-balance (MB) models and their calibration, exploring the impact of various design choices on projections. Using the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM), we compare the effects of different surface-type dependent degree-day factors, temporal climate resolutions [...]
Multi-scale rupture growth with alternating directions in a complex fault network during the 2023 south-eastern Türkiye and Syria earthquake doublet
Published: 2023-03-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A devastating doublet of earthquakes with moment magnitude Mw 7.9 and Mw 7.6 earthquakes contiguously occurred in SE Türkiye near the NW border of Syria. Here we perform a potency-density tensor inversion to simultaneously estimate rupture evolution and fault geometry for the doublet. We find the initial Mw 7.9 earthquake involved discrete episodes of supershear rupture and back-rupture [...]
Fractures and faults across intrusion-induced forced folds: a georesource perspective
Published: 2023-03-01
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Intruding magma can create space by uplift and elastic bending of the overburden, which locally fractures the deforming volume and produces dome-like forced folds. Due to their geometry and fracture network, such intrusion-induced forced folds make ideal fluid traps. As these forced folds are common in many volcanic settings and sedimentary basins, they present exploration targets for water, [...]
Effects of concentrated and intense heavy rain on phreatic eruptions ～Based on a case study of the phreatic eruptions of Mt. Ontake in Japan-～
Published: 2023-02-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
"This paper is a non-peer reviewed preprint submitted to EarthArXiv" For humans living in an economic zone adjacent to volcanoes, the reality of unpredictable eruptions is a constant concern. This paper presents a new view on the phreatic eruption process of Mt. Ontake, Japan. The purpose of this posting is to find ways to reduce casualties from phreatic eruptions. As a background, there is the [...]
Seasonal and annual tropical river pattern change detection using machine learning
Published: 2023-02-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Rivers in the tropics are more likely to exhibit seasonal changes in pattern than those in temperate regions because of strongly seasonal rainfall. However, such changes in seasonal tropical river patterns have not been widely investigated. Machine learning methods are used in this study with Sentinel-2 multispectral remote sensing images to classify active channel landforms (water; unvegetated [...]