Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Seismic observation of tsunami at island broadband stations
Published: 2018-10-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Previous studies have reported seismic observations of tsunami recorded at island broadband stations. Coastal loading by the tsunami can explain them. For further quantification, we model tsunami propagation assuming an axisymmetric structure: a conical island with a flat ocean floor. The total tsunami wavefield can be represented by superposition between an incident tsunami wave and the [...]
U–Pb dating of mineral deposits: From age constraints to ore-forming processes
Published: 2018-10-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The knowledge of the timing and duration of ore-forming processes are perhaps one of the most desirable pieces of information that geologists require to draw a complete picture of the deposit and to put its genesis into a coherent regional or even global geological framework. In many cases, it represents an essential parameter for establishing detailed genetic models, and can critically impact on [...]
Structure and elasticity of phlogopite under compression: Geophysical implications
Published: 2018-10-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We investigated the response of the crystal structure, lattice parameters, and unit-cell volume of hydrous layered silicate phlogopite at conditions relevant to subduction zone settings. We have used first principles simulation based on density functional theory to calculate the equation of state and full elastic constant tensor. Based on the generalized gradient approximation, the full single [...]
Glacial hydroclimate of western North America: insights from proxy-model comparison and implications for Lake Bonneville
Published: 2018-10-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Decades of paleoclimate research have helped to bring the pattern of hydroclimatic change across North America during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) into ever sharper focus. Despite these advances, the drivers of LGM hydroclimatic variability continue to be debated at the continental to basin scale. To explore the driving mechanisms behind LGM hydroclimatic change, we compare an updated network [...]
Lake area constraints on past hydroclimate in the western United States: Application to Pleistocene Lake Bonneville
Published: 2018-10-09
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Fresh Water Studies, Geology, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Lake shoreline remnants found in basins of the western United States reflect wetter conditions during Pleistocene glacial periods. The size distribution of paleolakes, such as Lake Bonneville, provide a first-order constraint on the competition between regional precipitation delivery and evaporative demand. In this contribution we downscale previous work using lake mass balance equations and [...]
Geomorphology and Climate Interact to Control Organic Carbon Stock and Age in Mountain River Valley Bottoms
Published: 2018-10-08
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Organic carbon (OC) in valley bottom downed wood and soil that cycles over short to moderate timescales represents a large, dynamic, and poorly quantified pool of carbon whose distribution and residence time affects global climate. We compare four disparate mountain river basins to show that mountain river valley bottoms store substantial estimated OC stocks in floodplain soil and downed wood. [...]
The Provision and Utility of Science and Uncertainty to Decision-Makers: Earth Science Case Studies
Published: 2018-10-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This document presents case studies that have been submitted for publication at the journal ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS AND DECISIONS. The collective results of these case studies are analysed in a companion manuscript submitted for publication in MINERVA. These case studies have been internally and externally peer reviewed prior to submission to https://eartharxiv.org. If accepted at ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS [...]
Do surface lateral flows matter for data assimilation of soil moisture observations into hyperresolution land models?
Published: 2018-10-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Hyperresolution land modeling is expected to innovate the simulation of terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycles. One of the major advantages of existing hyperresolution land models against conventional 1-demensional land surface models is that surface and subsurface lateral water flows can be explicitly simulated. Despite a lot of efforts on assimilating hydrological observations into the [...]
Volcanic-plutonic parity and the differentiation of the continental crust
Published: 2018-10-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The continental crust is central to the biological and geological history of Earth. However, crustal heterogeneity has prevented a thorough geochemical comparison of its primary igneous building blocks – volcanic and plutonic rocks – and the processes by which they differentiate to felsic compositions. Our analysis of a comprehensive global dataset of volcanic and plutonic whole-rock geochemistry [...]
Statistical geochemistry reveals disruption in secular lithospheric evolution about 2.5 Gyr ago
Published: 2018-10-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Secular cooling of the Earth is required by surface heat loss and declining radiogenic heat production over the last 4.5 billion years. Igneous geochemistry has been used to understand how changing heat flux influenced Archean geodynamics, but records of systematic geochemical evolution are complicated by heterogeneity of the rock record and uncertainties regarding selection and preservation [...]
A stochastic sampling approach to zircon eruption age interpretation
Published: 2018-10-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The accessory mineral zircon is widely used to constrain the timing of igneous processes such as magma crystallization or eruption. However, zircon U-Pb ages record zircon crystallization, which is not an instantaneous process. Zircon saturation calculations link zircon crystallization, temperature, and melt fraction, allowing for the estimation of zircon crystallization distributions as a [...]
Plate tectonics and continental basaltic geochemistry throughout Earth history
Published: 2018-10-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Basaltic magmas constitute the primary mass flux from Earths mantle to its crust, carrying information about the conditions of mantle melting through which they were generated. As such, changes in the average basaltic geochemistry through time reflect changes in underlying parameters such as mantle potential temperature and the geodynamic setting of mantle melting. However, sampling bias, [...]
Temporal variation in relative zircon abundance throughout Earth history
Published: 2018-10-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Zircon is the preeminent chronometer of deep time on Earth, informing models of crustal growth and providing our only direct window into the Hadean Eon. However, the quantity of zircon crystallised per unit mass of magma is highly variable, complicating interpretation of the terrestrial zircon record. Here we combine zircon saturation simulations with a dataset of ∼52,000 igneous whole rock [...]
The Empirical Bases for the Earth3 Model: Technical Notes on the Sustainable Development Goals and Planetary Boundaries
Published: 2018-10-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
This technical note presents the bases for the Earth3 model system with a focus on how SDGs and Planetary Boundaries are assessed in the model. This includes data selection, sources, analysis and forecasting methods. We also present the threshold levels that have been chosen for the respective SDGs and Planetary Boundaries.
Vulnerability of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands to present-day rates of relative sea-level rise
Published: 2018-10-01
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Risk Analysis, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Stratigraphy, Sustainability
Coastal Louisiana has lost about 5,000km2 of wetlands over the past century and concern exists whether remaining wetlands will persist while facing some of the world’s highest rates of relative sea-level rise (RSLR). Here we analyse an unprecedented data set derived from 274 rod surface-elevation table-marker horizon stations, to determine present-day surface-elevation change, vertical accretion [...]