Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
LATTE: Open-source, high-performance acoustic and elastic traveltime computation, tomography, and source location
Published: 2024-07-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Towards automatic delineation of landslide source and runout
Published: 2024-07-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Mathematics
Mapping landslide-depleted source areas is pivotal for refining predictive models and volume estimations, yet these critical regions are often conflated with the landslide runouts, leading to sub-optimal assessments. The source areas are typically the regions where the actual failure occurs, providing crucial information on the initiation mechanisms and the nature of landslide propagation. [...]
rmacrostrat: An R package for accessing and retrieving data from the Macrostrat geological database
Published: 2024-07-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The geological record is a vast archive of information that provides the only empirical data about the evolution of the Earth. In recent years, concentrated efforts have been made to compile macrostratigraphic data into the online centralized database Macrostrat (https://macrostrat.org). Macrostrat is a global stratigraphic database containing information regarding surface and subsurface rock [...]
Relating Multi-Scale Plume Detection to Area Emission Estimates in Dense Point Source Emission Fields of Methane
Published: 2024-07-23
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Methodologies for inferring surface emissions of atmospheric trace gases can be categorized into plume detection and area-scale estimation. Plume detections are observations of emissions from either individual or clustered point sources. Area estimates are derived from top-down atmospheric flux inversion models or bottom-up inventories, which infer mean emissions typically over spatial scales [...]
Sensitivity of modelled mass balance and runoff to representations of debris and accumulation on the Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Runoff from glaciers accounts for half the total freshwater discharge to the Gulf of Alaska, with glacier contributions to streamflow changing as mass loss accelerates. We reconstruct the 1980–2022 mass balance, runoff and water budget of the 70% glacierized Kaskawulsh River Headwaters in Yukon, Canada, using an enhanced temperature-index model driven by downscaled and bias-corrected reanalysis [...]
TROPICAL STORM SURGE: FORMATION, IMPACT, AND RECENT ADVANCES IN ITS PREDICTION TOWARDS DEVELOPING MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Planetary Sciences
Tropical storm surge poses significant risks to coastal areas, necessitating precise prediction for effective emergency preparedness and mitigation. Recent advances in numerical models such as SLOSH, ADCIRC, and FVCOM have revolutionized storm surge forecasting by accurately simulating complex hydrodynamic processes, bolstered by ADCIRC's use of high-resolution grids and parallel computing for [...]
Equality, diversity and inclusion recommendations and best practice from NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships & Centers for Doctoral Training: DEI Forum Report 2023
Published: 2024-07-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Sciences, Higher Education
This report represents the collective voice of NERC DTPs & CDTs, demonstrating the reality of nurturing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the ground level from the perspectives of staff and students. Individually, we have faced common barriers towards improving DEI within our host universities and honed our expertise in realising DEI through extensive research and [...]
Volcanic arc structure controlled by liquid focusing from the slab — evidence from boron isotopes and trace elements
Published: 2024-07-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The rates and pathways of material transport from subducting plates to arc volcanoes control the long-term chemical evolution of the atmosphere, continents, and mantle. Arc magma compositions are commonly used as proxies for the state of the slab directly below a volcanic vent, under the assumption of vertical transport from the slab to the surface. Here, we present new boron (B) isotope and [...]
Modeling sediment compaction beneath ice lenses during frost heave
Published: 2024-07-13
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Soil Science
Frost heave occurs when the ground swells during freezing conditions due to the growth of ice lenses in the subsurface. The mechanics of ice-infiltrated sediment, or frozen fringe, influences the formation and evolution of ice lenses. As the frozen fringe thickens during freezing, progressive unloading can result in dilation of the pore space and the formation of new ice lenses. Compaction can [...]
Seamounts control subducted carbonate recycling in Central America – evidence from stable Sr isotopes
Published: 2024-07-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Accurate estimates of carbon recycling efficiency at subduction zones are crucial for understanding the long-term evolution of the planet’s climate. Estimating subducting carbon recycling efficiency is difficult, however, due to magmatic degassing deep within the crust. Stable strontium (δ88Sr) isotopes have the potential to serve as an additional proxy for carbonate recycling due to carbonate’s [...]
Interdiffusion of major elements at 1 atmosphere between natural shoshonitic and rhyolitic melts
Published: 2024-07-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
The diffusive mass exchange of eight major elements (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, and K) between natural, nominally dry shoshonitic and rhyolitic melts was studied at atmospheric pressure and temperatures between 1230 and 1413 °C using the diffusion couple method. For six elements, effective binary diffusion coefficients were calculated by means of a concentration-dependent method to obtain an [...]
Timescale-dependent response of vegetation to climate change
Published: 2024-07-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Climate and ecosystems exhibit dynamic behavior across various timescales, but existing studies often focus on singular timescales when examining ecosystem responses to climate. Here we develop a conceptual and analytical framework using spectral analysis that examines a continuum of timescales, from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years. By comparing power spectra of vegetation turnover and [...]
A non-equilibrium slurry model for planetary cores with application to Earth’s F-layer
Published: 2024-07-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Fluid Dynamics, Geophysics and Seismology, Mineral Physics
Slurry regions may exist in the cores of several terrestrial bodies and are expected to influence the dynamics of deep planetary interiors and the viability of maintaining global magnetic fields. Here we develop a two-component slurry model of the lowermost outer core of the Earth (the F-layer). In contrast to most previous models of slurries in planetary cores, we explicitly model the physics [...]
Building quantitative skills with a simplified physical model of coastal storm deposition
Published: 2024-07-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Educational Methods, Geomorphology, Higher Education, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
This article describes an exercise for a physical laboratory experiment designed to enable physical geography students to practice transferrable quantitative skills through inquiry-based learning. The exercise is a deliberately simplified physical model of storm-driven coastal overwash typical of low-lying coastal barrier systems. The experiment can be trialled in anything from a baking pan or [...]
Uranium-series isotopes as tracers of physical and chemical weathering in glacial sediments from Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Published: 2024-07-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Glaciology, Soil Science
The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica formed by extensive glacial erosion, yet currently exhibit hyperarid polar conditions characterized by limited chemical and physical weathering. Efficient chemical weathering occurs when moisture is available, and polythermal subglacial conditions may accommodate ongoing mechanical weathering and valley incision. Taylor Valley hosts several Pleistocene [...]