Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Rift zone-parallel extension during segmented fault growth: application to the evolution of the NE Atlantic
Published: 2017-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The mechanical interaction of propagating normal faults is known to influence the linkage geometry of first-order faults, and the development of second-order faults and fractures, which transfer displacement within relay zones. Here we use natural examples of growth faults from two active volcanic rift zones (Koaʻe, Island of Hawaiʻi and Krafla, northern Iceland) to illustrate the importance of [...]
Multidisciplinary Investigations at P.O.W. Camp 198, Bridgend, Wales: Site of a Mass Escape in March 1945.
Published: 2017-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The largest escape of German Prisoner of War (PoW) in WW2 was in March 1945 from Camp 198, situated in Bridgend, South Wales, UK. Since camp closure the site has become derelict, and has not been scientifically investigated. This paper reports on the search to locate the PoW escape tunnel that was dug from Hut 9. This hut remains in remarkable condition, with numerous PoW graffiti still present. [...]
Pre-Cadomian to late-Variscan odyssey of the eastern Massif Central, France: Formation of the West European crust in a nutshell
Published: 2017-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The East Massif Central (EMC), France, is part of the internal zone of the Variscan belt where late Carboniferous crustal melting and orogenic collapse have largely obliterated the pre- to early-Variscan geological record. Nevertheless, parts of this history can be reconstructed by using in-situ U-Th-Pb-Lu-Hf isotopic data of texturally well-defined zircon grains from different lithological [...]
Tempo of magma degassing and the genesis of porphyry copper deposits
Published: 2017-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Porphyry deposits are copper-rich orebodies formed by precipitation of metal sulphides from hydrothermal fluids released from magmatic intrusions that cooled at depth within the Earth’s crust. Finding new porphyry deposits is essential because they are our largest source of copper and they also contain other strategic metals including gold and molybdenum. However, the discovery of giant porphyry [...]
Seismicity Induced by Longwall Coal Mining at the Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire, U.K.
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The U.K. has a long history of deep coal mining, and numerous cases of mining-induced seismicity have been recorded over the past 50 years. In this study we examine seismicity induced by longwall mining at one of the U.K.’s last deep coal mines, the Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire. After public reports of felt seismicity in late 2013 a local seismic monitoring network was installed at this [...]
Turbulence, displacement, death and worms: a day in the life of a fluvial Carboniferous bivalve
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
In the Pennsylvanian Rough Rock Flags and Rough Rock of northern England, trace fossils attributed to the non-marine bivalve Carbonicola are found. Carbonicola, recorded by Lockeia and associated trace fossils, lived a semi-infaunal lifestyle and thus were influenced by both the sediment in which they were hosted, and the currents which supplied their nutrients and oxygen. A number of [...]
Cenozoic contourites in the eastern Great Australian Bight, offshore southern Australia: implications for the onset of the Leeuwin Current
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Thermohaline oceanic currents influence global heat transfer, controlling local and global variations in climate, biodiversity, and the terrestrial biosphere. Paleoceanographic studies typically use biostratigraphic and geochemical proxies to reconstruct the dynamics of these currents in Earth’s ancient oceans, although seismic reflection data have also been successfully employed, most commonly [...]
Modelling silicon supply during the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e) at Lake Baikal
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Throughout the Quaternary, lake productivity has been shown to be sensitive to drivers such as climate change, landscape evolution and lake ontogeny. In particular, sediments from Lake Baikal, Siberia, provide a valuable uninterrupted and continuous sequence of palaeoproductivity, which document orbital and sub-orbital frequencies of regional climate change. Here we augment these records through [...]
The stratigraphic record and processes of turbidity current transformation across deep-marine lobes
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Sedimentary facies in the distal parts of deep-marine lobes can diverge significantly from those predicted by classical turbidite models, and sedimentological processes in these environments are poorly understood. This gap may be bridged using outcrop studies and theoretical models. In the Skoorsteenberg Fm., a downstream transition from thickly-bedded turbidite sandstones to argillaceous, [...]
An alternative review of facts, coincidences and past and future studies of the Lusi eruption
Published: 2017-10-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The cause of the Lusi mud eruption remains controversial. The review by Miller and Mazzini (2017) firmly dismisses a role of drilling operations at the adjacent Banjarpanji-1 well and argues that the eruption was triggered by the Mw6.3 Yogyakarta earthquake 254 km away. We disagree with both of these conclusions. We review drilling data, and specifically the daily drilling reports, which clearly [...]
Lake Baikal isotope records of Holocene Central Asian precipitation
Published: 2017-10-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Climate models currently provide conflicting predictions of future climate change across Central Asia. With concern over the potential for a change in water availability to impact communities and ecosystems across the region, an understanding of historical trends in precipitation is required to aid model development and assess the vulnerability of the region to future changes in the hydroclimate. [...]
Metrology and Traceability of U-Pb Isotope Dilution Geochronology (EARTHTIME Tracer Calibration Part I)
Published: 2017-10-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Mixed 235U–233U–205Pb(–202Pb) tracers for U–Pb isotope-dilution isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been prepared under the auspices of the EARTHTIME Initiative. The methods and results for the preparation and calibration of the U/Pb ratio and isotopic abundances are given, and the various sources of uncertainty are discussed and quantified. The accuracy of the EARTHTIME U–Pb tracer isotopic [...]
The Effect Of Clay Type On The Properties Of Cohesive Sediment Gravity Flows And Their Deposits
Published: 2017-10-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
The present knowledge of cohesive clay-laden sediment gravity flows (SGFs) and their deposits is limited, despite clay being one of the most abundant sediment types on earth and subaqueous SGFs transporting large volumes of sediment into the ocean. Lock-exchange experiments were conducted to contrast SGFs laden with noncohesive silica flour, weakly cohesive kaolinite, and strongly cohesive [...]