Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physics
Feedback-Controlled Linear Actuator System to Simulate Laboratory Analogs of Landslides
Published: 2026-07-24
Subjects: Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
This study describes a scientific apparatus that induces granular flow by tilting an acrylic sample container under user-prescribed constant angular velocity and acceleration profiles. The system consists of a transparent sample container mounted within a motorized frame driven by a linear actuator that we control using pulse-width modulation with feed-forward compensation. Additional components [...]
Fabric and strain analyses support a unified framework for sediment deposition, relaxation, and glass formation
Published: 2026-07-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physics, Sedimentology, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
The kinetic energy of particles at deposition Ek is a distinguishing feature of all near-surface environments, varying due to particle mass and local stress field within the fluid that transports the particles. Once deposited, a granular fabric emerges that exerts control on the subsequent relaxation processes, including on whether, when, and how granular sediments catastrophically fail. Despite [...]
Mechanical Association between Pressure Wave Propagation Time and Constitutive Parameter Damage in Porous Media: Theoretical Derivation and Sensitivity Analysis
Published: 2026-07-16
Subjects: Engineering Mechanics, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Physics, Soil Science
The propagation time of pressure waves in porous media carries critical information about the constitutive parameters of the medium. This study rigorously derives the mechanical relationship between the lag time of pressure wave and the hydraulic parameters of porous media based on the diffusion wave equation. The lag time is shown to be a direct functional of the hydraulic conductivity and [...]
Fluid Flow Induced by Seismic Waves in Fractures
Published: 2026-05-29
Subjects: Physics
A theoretical and numerical analysis is presented on the squeezed film of an incompressible fluid between two parallel fracture walls induced by seismic waves at normal incidence. In the frame of small oscillations, a closed form of the fluid pressure changes along with the fracture, and the fluid velocity field distribution is proposed. The developed analytical solutions are valid for any [...]
Trapped Lee-Wave Resonance Determines Antarctic Megadune Wavelength
Published: 2026-05-23
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Categorical Data Analysis, Design of Experiments and Sample Surveys, Earth Sciences, Fluid Dynamics, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Mineral Physics, Other Earth Sciences, Paleontology, Physics, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Glaciology, Planetary Hydrology, Planetary Mineral Physics, Planetary Sciences, Planetary Sedimentology, Sedimentology, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy
Snow megadunes cover 5×105 km2 of the East Antarctic plateau, biasing surface mass balance estimates and overprinting ice-core signals—yet their 2–5 km wavelength has lacked a quantitative selection mechanism for two decades. We first falsify the standard formula λ∗ = 2πU0/N through a calibration-free spatial test: eight REMA 2 m tiles across two independent locations at 81.5–82.0°S show no [...]
Direct quantification of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence using compact solar-blind optical radiometers
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Optics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides a non-invasive, quantitative measure of plant photosynthetic activity, linking leaf-level physiology to canopy and ecosystem behavior and the global carbon cycle. Current SIF measurements rely on hyperspectral retrievals of the weak fluorescence signal from small changes in Fraunhofer lines or atmospheric absorption features [...]
Airborne imaging spectrometer measurements of methane releases under turbulent conditions
Published: 2026-04-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Methane plume detection and quantification from airborne and spaceborne platforms offers a promising approach for monitoring localized greenhouse gas emissions. Its performance must be demonstrated under realistic but controlled conditions. An airborne demonstrator of a compact shortwave infrared imaging spectrometer developed for the AIRMO Earth observation mission was therefore evaluated during [...]
Spaceborne imaging spectrometry of methane plumes: Quantifying the benefit of aerosol lidar
Published: 2026-04-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physics
Column averaged mixing ratios of trace gases, such as methane (XCH4), from spaceborne pushbroom spectrometers can be used to detect corresponding plumes and retrieve enhancements (ΔXCH4), i.e., the difference between plume and background XCH4. Over the global dust belt, however, significant scattering by dust aerosols may cause biased XCH4 that may propagate into biased ΔXCH4. To correct this, a [...]
Decadal Evolution of Supraglacial Hydrology on the Nivlisen Ice Shelf: From Localized Ponding to Spatially Synchronized Hydrofracture Forcing (2015-2026)
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Computational Engineering, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics
Understanding the mechanical response of Antarctic ice shelves to surface meltwater is critical for evaluating their structural stability. This study presents 11 austral summer seasons (AS 2015-2016 to AS 2025-2026) assessment of supraglacial melt pond dynamics and their mechanical implications for the Nivlisen Ice Shelf grounding zone using Landsat-8/9 imagery combined with in-situ validation [...]
Fluctuation-induced dissipation for ocean surface waves
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
Phase averaging is a one-time operation. Irreversibletransport is not.Here we identify a coupling hidden in the Navier-Stokesequations for surface waves propagating through turbulencewhose one-time phase average vanishes but whose two-timeautocorrelation yields a finite Green-Kubo frictioncoefficient.Classical phase averaging removes this stochastic vortexforce, the bilinear coupling between wave [...]
A Scalable Borehole Thermometry Framework for Process-Based Monitoring of Near-Surface Thermal Dynamics Across Polar and High-Mountain Cryosphere Systems
Published: 2026-02-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Rapid climate warming is fundamentally altering the thermal structure and stability of glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves across polar and high-mountain environments. While satellite remote sensing and surface meteorological networks provide essential observations of atmospheric forcing and surface conditions, the near-surface subsurface layer (approximately 0–3 m depth)—where energy is [...]
Improving 210Po low level measurements in seawater
Published: 2026-01-28
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Ocean is the largest sink of atmospheric carbon, atmospheric CO2 is synthesized by surface phytoplankton into particle organic carbon (POC) that is exported from the ocean surface to depth, where it can be stored for years. An accurate quantification of downward POC flux is crucial for making reliable predictions of present and future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A method based on the [...]
Temperature insensitive viscous deformation limits megathrust seismogenesis
Published: 2025-11-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Three models have been proposed to explain the downdip limit of the subduction seismogenic zone. The first is a temperature-controlled transition in rate-and-state frictional properties between 350–510°C, which inhibits earthquake nucleation. The second places the limit at the frictional and viscous failure envelope intersection. The third combines thermal and lithological controls, where 'warm' [...]
Relict landscapes and fluvial landforms: Catastrophic outflow following a major Late Messinian base-level fall
Published: 2025-11-07
Subjects: Analysis, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Mathematics, Physics, Stratigraphy
During the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), the entire Mediterranean Basins underwent dramatic canyon incision along its margins due to fluctuating sea levels and rapidly increasing salinity. However, the specific processes and water sources responsible for such profound landscape transformations have yet to be quantitatively demonstrated. In this study, we combine high resolution 3D seismic [...]
Evaluating Urban Heat Adaptation Strategies for Extreme Heatwaves in Complex Terrain: A Case Study of Grenoble, France
Published: 2025-10-18
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Fluid Dynamics, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physics
Urban heat adaptation strategies are critical for mitigating the impacts of ex- treme heat events in cities, particularly as climate change exacerbates their intensity and frequency. This study evaluates a set of adaptation strategies during the 2023 heatwave in Grenoble, France, using the WRF model with the BEP+BEM urban canopy scheme. Eight scenarios are simulated, including increased [...]