Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
The anelasticity of zinc and its implications for the Earth’s inner core
Published: 2019-08-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Earth’s inner core exhibits significant anisotropy in both seismic velocity and attenuation as well as hemispherical and depth variations. These observations point to an inner core that is both complex and dynamic. However, interpretation of these observations without knowledge of the attenuation processes active in the inner-core is difficult. To address this we have used zinc, as a [...]
Influence of floods, tides, and vegetation on sediment retention in Wax Lake Delta, LA, USA
Published: 2019-08-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sediment is the most valuable natural resource for deltaic environments, and to build new land sediment must be retained in the delta instead of being transported offshore. Despite this, we do not know what controls sediment retention within a delta. Here we use a calibrated numerical model of Wax Lake Delta, LA, USA to analyze sediment retention for different flood-wave magnitudes, tidal [...]
Review paper: The 2nd June 1979 Mw 6.1 Cadoux surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 2nd June 1979 moment magnitude (Mw) 6.1 Cadoux earthquake caused a complex, multi-fault surface rupture consisting of six mapped scarps: (from south to north) the 8 km long west dipping Robb scarp, 3 km long south dipping Cumming scarp, the Lone Tree, Carter and Tank scarps (which together define an east-dipping arcuate rupture) and the 2.5 km long southwest-dipping Kalajzic scarp. Surface [...]
Review paper: The 10th March 1970 Mw 5.0 Calingiri surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 10th March 1970 moment magnitude (Mw) 5.0 Calingiri earthquake surface rupture is 3.3 km long with a maximum vertical displacement of 0.4 m. The fault as defined by surface measurements is a shallow-dipping reverse fault (~ 20° east) with a probable shallow hypocentre (< 1 km). This is consistent with published hypocentral depths, though large uncertainties exist within the seismological [...]
Review paper: The 30th March 1986 Mw 5.7 Marryat Creek surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 30th March 1986 Mw 5.7 Marryat Creek earthquake produced a highly arcuate 13 km long surface rupture with maximum vertical displacement of 0.9 m. Sinistral displacement on the NE-SW limb, dextral displacement on the NNE-SSW limb, and maximum vertical displacement in the central apex of rupture supports SW over NE movement of a hanging-wall block. Epicentre locations are poorly constrained and [...]
Review paper: The 14th October 1968 Mw 6.6 Meckering surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 14th October 1968 MW 6.6 Meckering earthquake surface rupture is comprised of a main 37 km long concave Meckering scarp (with a 1.5 km wide dextral step-over along the Burges en-echelon rupture complex) and a minor 9 km long rupture on the Meckering scarp foot-wall (the Splinter scarp, also with a 1.5 km dextral step-over). We recommend a total surface rupture length of 44.4 km for [...]
Review paper: The 20th May 2016 Mw 6.1 Petermann surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 20th May 2016 Mw 6.1 Petermann earthquake produced a 21 km long surface rupture with a maximum vertical offset of 0.9 m. Geological and geophysical data provide strong evidence that rupture occurred along a mylonite foliation plane with an orientation defined by deformation from the nearby Woodroffe Thrust, a major Neoproterozoic terrane suture. The most geologically and seismologically [...]
Review paper: The 23rd March 2012 Mw 5.2 Pukatja surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 23rd March 2012 Mw 5.2 Pukatja earthquake produced an arcuate surface rupture 1.6 km long with a maximum vertical offset of 0.48 m. We reclassify its length to 1 km based on application of orientation and kinematic criteria used previously to measure other historic Australian surface ruptures. Epicentres are poorly constrained and inaccurate, located up to 17 km from the surface rupture with [...]
Frozen fringe explains sediment freeze-on during Heinrich events
Published: 2019-08-16
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Anomalous coarse-grained sediment layers beneath the North Atlantic likely originated from sediment freeze-on to the base of ice sheets during the last glacial period. These layers represent periods of extreme ice discharge, called Heinrich events, and are variously attributed to ice stream flow instability, ice shelf collapse, or enhanced terminus melting due to ocean warming. In this paper, we [...]
Early Paleocene Paleoceanography and Export Productivity in the Chicxulub Crater
Published: 2019-08-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
The Chicxulub impact caused a crash in export productivity in much of the world’s oceans which contributed to the extinction of 75% of marine species. In the immediate aftermath of the extinction, local export productivity was highly variable, with some sites, including the Chicxulub crater, recording elevated export production. The long-term transition back to more stable export productivity [...]
Grain-Size and Discharge Controls on Submarine-Fan Depositional Patterns From Forward Stratigraphic Models
Published: 2019-08-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Submarine fans are important components of continental margins; they contain a stratigraphic record of environmental changes and host large accumulations of oil and gas. The grain size and volume of sediment supply to fans is thought to control the heterogeneity of deep-water deposits; predicting spatial variability of sandy and muddy deposits is an important applied challenge in the [...]
Real-Time High-Rate GNSS Displacements: Performance Demonstration During the 2019 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquakes
Published: 2019-08-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Traditional real-time seismology has relied on inertial sensors to characterize ground motions and earthquake sources, particularly for hazards applications such as warning systems. In the past decade, a revolution in high-rate, real-time Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) displacement have provided a new source of data to augment traditional measurement devices. The Ridgecrest, California [...]
Variations in sub-daily precipitation at centennial scale
Published: 2019-08-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Short-term precipitation events with high intensities govern the dynamics of numerous fast hydrological processes like flash floods in urban areas and soil erosion in agriculture. It is expected that precipitation events will intensify as a consequence of climate change. Due to data availability long-term variations in precipitation rates are mostly studied based on daily precipitation recordings [...]
High-resolution terrestrial climate, bioclimate and vegetation for the last 120,000 years
Published: 2019-08-14
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Paleobiology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The variability of climate has profoundly impacted a wide range of macroecological processes in the Late Quaternary. Our understanding of these has greatly benefited from palaeoclimate simulations, however, high-quality reconstructions of ecologically relevant climatic variables have been limited to a few selected time periods, thus impeding continuous time analyses. Here, we present a 0.5° [...]
Progradational Slope Architecture and Sediment Partitioning in the Outcropping Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate Bone Spring Formation, Permian Basin, west Texas
Published: 2019-08-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sediment transport and partitioning are important for understanding slope-building processes in mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sediment routing systems. The Permian-aged Bone Spring Formation, Delaware Basin, west Texas is a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic system that has been extensively studied in its basinal extent, but poorly constrained at its proximal, upper slope segment. In this study, we [...]