Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
The role of coseismic Coulomb stress changes in shaping the hard-link between normal fault segments
Published: 2017-11-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The mechanism and evolution of fault linkage is important in the growth and development of large faults. Here we investigate the role of coseismic stress changes in shaping the hard-links between parallel normal fault segments (or faults), by comparing numerical models of the Coulomb stress change from simulated earthquakes on two en echelon fault segments to natural observations of hard-linked [...]
Rupture Process during the Mw 8.1 2017 Chiapas Mexico Earthquake: Shallow Intraplate Normal Faulting by Slab Bending
Published: 2017-11-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A seismic source model for the Mw 8.1 2017 Chiapas, Mexico, earthquake was constructed by kinematic waveform inversion using globally observed teleseismic waveforms, suggesting that the earthquake was a normal-faulting event on a steeply dipping plane, with the major slip concentrated around a relatively shallow depth of 28 km. The modeled rupture evolution showed unilateral, down-dip propagation [...]
Throw Rate Variability on Gravity-Driven Normal Faults; Constraints from the Gudrun Fault, South Viking Graben, Offshore Norway
Published: 2017-11-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The growth and throw rate variability on normal faults can reflect fault interaction, plate tectonic forces and, in gravity-driven systems, variations in sediment loading. Because earthquakes may occur as faults slip, it is important to understand what processes influence throw rate variability on normal faults to be able to predict seismic hazards in extensional terranes. Furthermore, the rate [...]
Temperatures recorded by cosmogenic noble gases since the last glacial maximum in the Maritime Alps
Published: 2017-11-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
While proxy records have been used to reconstruct late Quaternary climate parameters throughout the European Alps, our knowledge of deglacial climate conditions in the Maritime Alps is limited. Here, we report temperatures recorded by a new and independent geochemical technique—cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry—in the Maritime Alps since the last glacial maximum. We measured cosmogenic 3He in [...]
The INTAV intercomparison of electron-beam microanalysis of glass by tephrochronology laboratories, results and recommendation
Published: 2017-11-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The INternational focus group on Tephrochronology And Volcanism (INTAV) of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) has conducted an intercomparison of tephrochronology laboratories with electron-beam microanalytical data on volcanic glasses submitted from 27 instruments at 24 institutions in 9 countries. This assessment includes most active tephrochronology laboratories and [...]
Temporal evolution of extensional fault-propagation folds
Published: 2017-11-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Integration of three-dimensional seismic and well data from the Upper Jurassic North Sea rift provides insights into the temporal evolution of fault-propagation folds in extensional settings. The hangingwall of the Oseberg fault zone is characterised by an asymmetric, fault-parallel syncline interpreted as the hangingwall portion of a breached monocline which formed in response to an [...]
BIOMEDIATION OF SEDIMENT GRAVITY FLOW DYNAMICS
Published: 2017-11-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Sediment gravity flows (SGFs) are the primary process by which sediment and organic carbon are transported from the continental margin to the deep ocean. Forty percent of the total marine organic carbon pool is represented by cohesive extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by marine benthic and pelagic micro-organisms. EPS research to date has focussed on coastal environments, where [...]
Comparison of 0-D, 1-D and 2-D model capabilities for tidal range energy resource assessments
Published: 2017-11-22
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Engineering, Earth Sciences, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Hydraulic Engineering, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Power and Energy
Tidal range energy projects present an attractive means for the predictable and large-scale generation of electricity from the marine environment. In particular, proposals are under consideration in UK waters, with their feasibility currently being under high levels of scrutiny. This is due to a combination of potential environmental and socio-economic impacts that are challenging to quantify in [...]
Numerical solution of a non-linear conservation law applicable to the interior dynamics of partially molten planets
Published: 2017-11-21
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Fluid Dynamics, Geophysics and Seismology, Numerical Analysis and Computation, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
The energy balance of a partially molten rocky planet can be expressed as a non-linear diffusion equation using mixing length theory to quantify heat transport by both convection and mixing of the melt and solid phases. Crucially, in this formulation the effective or eddy diffusivity depends on the entropy gradient, dS/dr, as well as entropy itself. First we present a simplified model with [...]
High curvatures drive river meandering
Published: 2017-11-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
One of the long- and widely held ideas about the dynamics of meandering rivers is that migration slows down in bends with higher curvatures. Identifying the radius of curvature at which migration is fastest is standard practice in field studies of meandering rivers. High-resolution measurements of local migration rates in time-lapse Landsat images from two rapidly migrating rivers in the Amazon [...]
Scientific and risk-reduction benefits of involving citizens in monitoring volcanic activity
Published: 2017-11-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Citizen science involves volunteers, regardless of scientific background, in conducting scientific investigations. Although the extent of citizen involvement varies, the reported benefits of such activities include: the generation of new knowledge; increased public understanding of and confidence in science, and ‘real-time’ insights into rapidly evolving events such as natural hazards. In [...]
Seismic and structural characterization of a pre-salt rifted section: the Lagoa Feia Group, Campos Basin, offshore Brazil
Published: 2017-11-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy
The exploration of pre-salt offshore SE Brazil presents a multifaceted deep-water scenario that is bringing new challenges to seismic interpretation in offshore Brazilian exploration and production. Reservoirs in this domain are complex, heterogeneous with layered carbonates which makes accurate reservoir characterization very challenging. Our study here deals with the seismic characterization of [...]
Unravelling intrusion-induced forced fold kinematics and ground deformation using 3D seismic reflection data
Published: 2017-11-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sills emplaced at shallow-levels are commonly accommodated by overburden uplift, producing forced folds. We examine ancient forced folds developed above saucer-shaped sills using 3D seismic reflection data from the Canterbury Basin, offshore SE New Zealand. Seismic-stratigraphic relationships indicate sill emplacement occurred incrementally over ~31 Myr between the Oligocene (~35–32 Ma) and Early [...]
Fault growth and interactions in a multiphase rift fault network: Horda Platform, Norwegian North Sea
Published: 2017-11-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Physical models predict that multiphase rifts that experience a change in extension direction between stretching phases will typically develop non-colinear normal fault sets. Furthermore, multiphase rifts will display a greater frequency and range of styles of fault interactions than single-phase rifts. Although these physical models have yielded useful information on the evolution of fault [...]
The 1902-3 eruptions of the Soufrière, St Vincent: impacts, relief and response
Published: 2017-11-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Retrospective analysis of the contemporary colonial and scientific records of a major explosive eruption of the Soufrière of St Vincent from 1902-1903 reveals how this significant and prolonged event presented challenges to the authorities charged with managing the crisis and its aftermath. In a small-island setting vulnerable to multiple hazards, the spatial footprint of the volcanic hazard and [...]