Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Rift kinematics preserved in deep-time erosional landscape below the northern North Sea
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Our understanding of continental rifting is, in large parts, derived from the stratigraphic record. This record is, however, incomplete as it does not often capture the geomorphic and erosional signal of rifting. New 3D seismic reflection data reveals a Late Permian-Early Triassic landscape incised into the pre-rift basement of the northern North Sea. This landscape, which covers at least 542 [...]
Emergent simplicity despite local complexity in eroding fluvial landscapes
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Much understanding of continental topographic evolution is rooted in measuring and predicting rates at which rivers erode. Flume tank and field observations indicate that stochasticity and local conditions play important roles in determining rates at small scales (e.g. < 10 km, thousands of years). Obversely, preserved river profiles and common shapes of rivers atop uplifting topography indicate [...]
On the Efficacy of Compact Radar Transponders for InSAR Geodesy: Results of Multi-year Field Tests
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Compact and low-cost radar transponders are an attractive alternative to corner reflectors (CR) for SAR interferometric (InSAR) deformation monitoring, datum connection, and geodetic data integration. Recently, such transponders have become commercially available for C-band sensors, which poses relevant questions on their characteristics in terms of radiometric, geometric, and phase stability. [...]
Skillful decadal prediction of unforced southern European summer temperature variations
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We assess the capability of decadal prediction simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) archive to predict European summer temperature during the period 1970-2014. Using a multi-model ensemble average, we show that Southern European (SEU) summer temperatures are highly predictable for up to 10 years in CMIP6. Much of this predictive skill, is related to the [...]
Regional SST and SLP conditions related to tornado 'outbreak' environments 15 days later
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Global climate features are known to influence tornado frequency in the U.S., but more work needs to focus on understanding the extent to which climate variables contribute to increases in CAPE and shear on days with an outbreak of at least ten tornadoes. Here the authors quantify the conditional relationships between precursor SST and SLP variables and localized extremes of CAPE and shear [...]
Pleistocene-Holocene crustal deformation in the far-Western Himalaya
Published: 2021-06-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present new Late Pleistocene-Holocene shortening rates across the frontal fold-and-thrust belt, namely as, the Sub-Himalaya (SH) from the far-western Himalayan sector of Jammu. OSL-dated offset/ folded fluvial strath terraces suggest that the intraplate convergence is partitioned among several active structures in the SH. Estimated cumulative Late Pleistocene- Holocene shortening rate in the [...]
Post-LGM glacial retreat drives aggradation in the interiors of the Kashmir Himalaya
Published: 2021-06-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Understanding the response of glaciated catchments to climate change is fundamental for assessing sediment transport from the high-elevation, semi-arid to arid sectors in the Himalaya to the foreland basin. The fluvioglacial sediments stored in the semi-arid Padder valley in the Kashmir Himalaya record valley aggradation during ~19-11 ka. We relate the valley aggradation to increased sediment [...]
The stratigraphic record of continental breakup, offshore NW Australia
Published: 2021-06-24
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Continental breakup involves a transition from rapid, fault-controlled syn-rift subsidence to relatively slow, post-breakup subsidence induced lithospheric cooling. Yet the stratigraphic record of many rifted margins contain syn-breakup unconformities, indicating episodes of uplift and erosion interrupt this transition. This uplift has been linked to mantle upwelling, depth-dependent extension, [...]
Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity
Published: 2021-06-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sampling variations in the fossil record distort estimates of past biodiversity. However, compilations of global fossil occurrences used in these analyses not only reflect the geological and spatial aspects of the fossil record, but also the historical collation of these data. Here, we demonstrate how the legacy of colonialism as well as socio-economic factors such as wealth, education and [...]
Mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet until the year 3000 under a sustained late-21st-century climate
Published: 2021-06-23
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ice-sheet simulations of Antarctica extending to the year 3000 are analysed to investigate the long-term impacts of 21st century warming. Climate projections are used as forcing until 2100 and afterwards no climate trend is applied. Fourteen experiments are for the “unabated warming” pathway, and three are for the “reduced emissions” pathway. For the unabated warming path simulations, West [...]
Rotational Ground Motion Measurements for Regional Seismic Moment Tensors: a Review
Published: 2021-06-18
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Seismic moment tensors are an important tool in geosciences on all spatial scales and for a broad range of applications. The basic underlying theory is established since decades. However, various factors influence the reliability of the inversion result, several of them are mutually dependent. Hence, a reliable retrieval of seismic moment tensors is still hampered in many cases, especially at [...]
Geodynamic, geodetic, and seismic constraints favour deflated and dense-cored LLVPs
Published: 2021-06-18
Subjects: Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Seismology, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Two continent-sized features in the deep mantle, the large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), influence Earth's supercontinent cycles, mantle plume generation, and its geochemical budget. Seismological advances have steadily improved LLVP imaging, but several fundamental questions remain unanswered, including: What is their vertical extent? And, are they purely thermal anomalies, or are they also [...]
Past terrestrial hydroclimate driven by Earth System Feedbacks
Published: 2021-06-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Geologic evidence suggests drastic reorganizations of subtropical terrestrial hydroclimate during past warm intervals, including the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (MP, 3.3 to 3.0 Ma). Despite having a similar to present-day atmospheric CO2 level (pCO2), MP featured moist subtropical conditions with high lake levels in Northern Africa, and mesic vegetation and sedimentary facies in subtropical [...]
Generation of Earth’s Early Continents From a Relatively Cool Archean Mantle
Published: 2021-06-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Several lines of evidence suggest that the Archean (4.0–2.5 Ga) mantle was hotter than today’s potential temperature (TP ) of 1350 ýC. However, the magnitude of such di erence is poorly constrained, with TP estimation spanning from 1500 ýC to 1600 ýC during the Meso-Archean (3.2-2.8 Ga). Such di erences have major implications for the interpreted mechanisms of continental crust generation on [...]
An Outsized Role for the Labrador Sea in the Multidecadal Variability of the Atlantic Overturning Circulation
Published: 2021-06-15
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Climate models are essential tools for investigating intrinsic North Atlantic variability related to variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), but recent observations have called into question the fidelity of models that emphasize the importance of Labrador Sea processes. A multi-century pre-industrial climate simulation that resolves ocean mesoscale eddies has a [...]