Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
A Stella® version of the Arctic Mediterranean Double Estuarine Circulation model: SAMDEC v1.0
Published: 2019-05-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Arctic Mediterranean can be described as a double estuarine circulation regime. This observed circulation feature, which connects the North Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean, is composed of two interconnected branches of circulation: an overturning circulation, where dense water formed in the Nordic Seas returns toward the Atlantic and an estuarine circulation, where the East Greenland Current [...]
Teleseisms and Microseisms on an Ocean-Bottom Distributed Acoustic Sensing Array
Published: 2019-05-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sparse seismic instrumentation in the oceans limits our understanding of deep Earth dynamics and submarine earthquakes. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), an emerging technology that converts optical fiber to seismic sensors, allows us to leverage pre-existing submarine telecommunication cables for seismic monitoring. Here we report observations of microseism, local surface gravity waves, and a [...]
Lake Level Fluctuations in the Northern Great Basin for the Last 25,000 years
Published: 2019-05-30
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Hydrology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~23,000 to 19,000 years ago or ka) and through the last deglaciation, the Great Basin physiographic region in the western United States was marked by multiple extensive lake systems, as recorded by proxy evidence and lake sediments. However, temporal constraints on the growth, desiccation, and timing of lake highstands remain poorly constrained. Studies aimed [...]
Implicitly localized ensemble observational update to cope with nonlocal/nonlinear data constraints in large-size inverse problems
Published: 2019-05-30
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Many practical applications involve the resolution of large-size inverse problems, without providing more than a moderate-size sample to describe the prior probability distribution. In this situation, additional information must be supplied to augment the effective dimension of the available sample. This is the role played by covariance localization in the large-size applications of the ensemble [...]
A constant Chinese Loess Plateau dust source since the Late Miocene
Published: 2019-05-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary marks a major change in global climate and East Asian monsoon dynamic. However, the role of the global atmospheric dust-cycle over this time is unclear; in particular, whether, changes in the dust cycle influenced climate change, or resulted from it. Chinese loess records past dust-cycle history and the influences of aridification and monsoon circulation over the [...]
Effect of solution chemistry on the iodine release from iodoapatite in aqueous environments
Published: 2019-05-24
Subjects: Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Materials Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
To ensure the safe disposal of nuclear waste, understanding the release process of radionuclides retained in the nuclear waste forms is of vital importance. Iodoapatite Pb9.85(VO4)6I1.7, a potential waste form for iodine-129, was selected as a model system for ceramic waste forms in this study to understand the effect of aqueous species on iodine release. Semi-dynamic leaching tests were [...]
On the stability of deep-seated landslides. The cases of Vaiont (Italy) and Shuping (Three Gorges Dam, China)
Published: 2019-05-24
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Deep-seated catastrophic landslides are among the most powerful natural hazards on earth. These devastating events are not possible to be prevented yet, because of their large volumes and sudden acceleration phase. The present study suggests a new method to detect when a landslide will turn unstable, giving both a time-window to evacuate the area that is going to be affected and critical values [...]
HESS Opinions: Improving the evaluation of groundwater representation in continental to global scale models
Published: 2019-05-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Continental- to global-scale hydrologic and land surface models increasingly include representations of the groundwater system, driven by crucial Earth science and sustainability problems. These models are essential for examining, communicating, and understanding the dynamic interactions between the Earth System above and below the land surface as well as the opportunities and limits of [...]
The influence of basin settings and flow properties on the dimensions of submarine lobe elements
Published: 2019-05-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Submarine lobes have been identified within various deep-water settings, including the basin-floor, the base of slope and the continental slope. Their dimensions and geometries are postulated to be controlled by the topographical configuration of the seabed, sediment supply system and slope maturity. While confinement has been suggested as a main control factor for lobe dimensions, it does not [...]
Dark carbon fixation contributes to sedimentary organic carbon in the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone
Published: 2019-05-18
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In response to rising CO2 concentrations and increasing global sea surface temperatures, oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), or “dead zones”, are expected to expand. OMZs are fueled by high primary productivity, resulting in enhanced biological oxygen demand at depth, subsequent oxygen depletion, and attenuation of remineralization. This results in the deposition of organic carbon-rich sediments. Carbon [...]
Using nano-XRM and high-contrast imaging to inform micro-porosity permeability during Stokes-Brinkman single and two-phase flow simulations on micro-CT images
Published: 2019-05-17
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Carbonate rocks have particularly complex and multiscale pore systems which are weakly understood. In this study we use combined experimental, modelling, and pore space generation methods to tackle the impact of micro-porosity on the bulk flow properties of Estaillades limestone. First, a nano-core from a microporous grain of Estaillades Limestone was scanned using x-ray nano tomography [...]
Well-being loss: a comprehensive metric for household disaster resilience
Published: 2019-05-17
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Risk Analysis, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Natural disaster risk assessments typically consider environmental hazard and physical damage, neglecting to quantify how asset losses affect households’ well-being. However, for a given asset loss, a wealthy household might easily recover, while a poor household might suffer from major, long-lasting impacts. Ignoring such differential impacts can lead to inequitable interventions and exacerbate [...]
Shallow slow slip events along the Nankai Trough detected by the GNSS-A
Published: 2019-05-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Various slow earthquakes (SEQs), including tremors, very-low-frequency events, and slow slip events (SSEs), occur along megathrust zones. In a shallow plate boundary region, although many SEQs have been observed along pan-Pacific subduction zones, SSEs with a duration on the order of a year or with a large slip have not yet been detected due to difficulty in offshore observation. We try to [...]
Pleistocene coastal evolution in the Makran subduction zone
Published: 2019-05-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Along the coast of the Makran subduction zone (SE Iran and SW Pakistan), active uplift combined with efficient erosion and vigorous sediment transport have led to marine terraces with unique morphology and sedimentology. These terraces are characterized by the systematic presence of an extensive 1–10Cm thick sandstone layer capping their wave-cut base. Our investigation of thirty-six sedimentary [...]
Forced folding and fracturing induced by differential compaction during post-depositional inflation of sandbodies: insights from numerical modelling
Published: 2019-05-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Three series of numerical models based on the discrete element method were constructed to simulate forced folding and fracturing triggered by postdepositional inflation of fludised sandbody. The models consist of numerous particles that have relatively low to high interparticle bonds to represent overburden sediments with a relatively low to high cohesion, and cohesionless, frictionless particles [...]