Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Evaluation of open-access global digital elevation models (AW3D30, SRTM and ASTER) for flood modelling purposes
Published: 2018-06-25
Subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Engineering, Computer Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are a key piece of information for the accurate representation of topographic controls exerted in hydrologic and hydraulic models. Many practitioners rely on open-access global datasets usually obtained from space-borne survey due to the cost and sparse coverage of sources of higher resolution. In may 2016 the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency publicly released an [...]
Quantitative analysis of fluvial paleohydraulics and intra-channel belt stratal preservation: lower Wasatch Formation, Utah, USA
Published: 2018-06-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This article uses measurements from five fluvial channel belts of the Paleocene lower Wasatch Formation to quantitatively document the transience or persistence of flow velocities recorded in stratigraphy at the bedset scale. We use facies proportions and sedimentary structures coupled with a paleoflow velocity workflow to calculate the mean flow velocity for each bedset. Flow velocity [...]
Quantifying the Fate of Wastewater Nitrogen Discharged to a Canadian River
Published: 2018-06-21
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Systems Biology, Water Resource Management
Addition of nutrients, such as nitrogen, can degrade water quality in lakes, rivers, and estuaries. To predict the fate of nutrient inputs, an understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients is needed. We develop and employ a novel, parsimonious, process-based model of nitrogen concentrations and stable isotopes that quantifies the competing processes of volatilization, uptake, [...]
Palaeolithic artefact deposits at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia; a multi-scalar geoarchaeological approach to building an interpretative framework
Published: 2018-06-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Surface artefacts dominate the archaeological record of arid landscapes, particularly the Saharo-Arabian belt, a pivotal region in dispersals out of Africa. Discarded by hominins, these artefacts are key to understanding past landscape use and dispersals, yet behavioural interpretation of present-day artefact distributions cannot be carried out without understanding how geomorphological processes [...]
Network Analysis of the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meetings
Published: 2018-06-20
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is an Earth and space science professional society based in the United States. AGU publishes scientific journals, sponsors meetings, and supports education and outreach efforts to promote public understanding of science. Research conducted by AGU members ranges from the Earth’s deep interior to the outer planets of our solar system. Little research exists on [...]
Exhumation of (U)HP/LT rocks caused by diachronous slab breakoff
Published: 2018-06-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Three-dimensional thermo-mechanical analogue models investigate how diachronous slab breakoff may lead to the exhumation of subducted continental crust. Slab breakoff initiates spontaneously in one location and migrates laterally along the plate boundary, causing a transient excess downward pull force on the plate boundary in front of the propagating slab tear. This pull force locally reduces the [...]
Wildlife Crime: The application of forensic geoscience to assist with criminal investigations
Published: 2018-06-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Wildlife crime is a growing problem in many rural areas. However, it can often be difficult to determine exactly what had happened and provide evidential Court material, especially where evidence is ephemeral. This paper presents a case study where a badger sett had been illegally filled and evidence was rapidly required to support a prosecution. A topographic surface survey was undertaken, [...]
Farmer’s data sourcing: A best practise example for mapping soil properties in permanent crops in South Tyrol (northern Italy)
Published: 2018-06-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Soil Science
In agriculture, detailed knowledge of soil properties is a key element for high-quality food production. However, soil data at a single parcel scale are generally unavailable. In this study, a best practice framework is presented where, through an operational chain from an individual farmer through a centralised database and with a geostatistical approach, new knowledge has been generated that [...]
Landscape classification with deep neural networks.
Published: 2018-06-18
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Computer Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
The application of deep learning, specifically deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs), to the classification of remotely sensed imagery of natural landscapes has the potential to greatly assist in the analysis and interpretation of geomorphic processes. However, the general usefulness of deep learning applied to conventional photographic imagery at a landscape scale is, at yet, largely [...]
Post-critical SsPmp and Its Applications to Virtual Deep Seismic Sounding (VDSS): 1. Sensitivity to Lithospheric 1D and 2D structure
Published: 2018-06-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Virtual Deep Seismic Sounding (VDSS) has recently emerged as a novel method to image the Moho and potentially other lithospheric boundaries. The behavior of SsPmp, the post-critical reflection phase at the Moho that is utilized in VDSS, is rich with complexities not yet widely utilized. Here, motivated by observations from the Ordos Plateau in North China, we use synthetic seismograms computed [...]
How do intra-basement fabrics influence normal fault growth? Insights from the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand
Published: 2018-06-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Pre-existing intra-basement structures can have a strong influence on the evolution of rift basins. Although 3D geometric relationships provide some insight into how intra-basement structures determine the broad geometry and spatial development (e.g. strike and dip) of rift-related faults, little is known about the impact of the former on the detailed kinematics (i.e. nucleation and tip [...]
A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: implications for the K-Pg mass extinction event in the MS Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain
Published: 2018-06-15
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous [...]
Introduction to Interferometry of Fiber Optic Strain Measurements
Published: 2018-06-15
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Applied Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) measures the average axial strain (strain rate) along a subset of a fiber optic cable, as opposed to the particle displacement (velocity) at a particular small point sensor. In shifting from measuring a vector field to a tensor field, DAS changes the directional sensitivity of measurements of every type of seismic wave when compared to single component [...]
Is the Earth Lazy? A review of work minimization in fault evolution
Published: 2018-06-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The principle of work minimization has been used in various forms to account for the development of active fault systems within a wide range of tectonic settings. We review the successes, challenges and implications learned from previous applications of work minimization. Examination of the energy budget provides insight into the competing influences of different processes within fault systems [...]
Effects of shoal margin collapses on the morphodynamics of a sandy estuary
Published: 2018-06-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Shoal margin collapses of several Mm3 have occurred in the Western Scheldt estuary, the Netherlands, on average five times a year over the last decades. While these collapses involve significant volumes of material, their effect on the channel‐shoal morphology is unknown. We hypothesize that collapses dynamicise the channel‐shoal interactions, which could impact the ecological functioning, flood [...]