Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Paleo extreme storm waves in the North Atlantic: geological evidence from Sal Island, Cape Verde Archipelago.
Published: 2025-05-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology
The northwestern coast of Sal Island (Cape Verde Archipelago) is characterized by a rocky shoreline that is regularly impacted by Atlantic swells exceeding 4 m in height and 20 s in period. Yet, the only significant geomorphic expression of wave action is an extensive boulder ridge situated atop a rocky cliff, up to 80–100 m inland and between 10 and 15 m above present sea level. The presence of [...]
The OpenQuake Model Building Toolkit: A suite of tools for building components of a seismic hazard model
Published: 2025-05-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Building a probabilistic seismic hazard model is a complex task, requiring the integration of disparate datasets into one cohesive and comprehensive model. To facilitate this process, we have developed the OpenQuake Model Building Toolkit (OQ-MBTK), a collection of functions for constructing probabilistic seismic hazard models. This toolkit encompasses a wide array of functions essential for [...]
Holocene deglaciation of Prudhoe Dome, northwest Greenland
Published: 2025-05-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology
Projections of future sea-level rise benefit from understanding the response of past ice sheets to interglacial warmth. Constraints on the extent of inland Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) recession during the Middle Holocene (~8 – 4 ka) are limited because geological records of a smaller-than-modern phase largely remain beneath the modern ice sheet. We drilled through 509 m of firn and ice at Prudhoe [...]
Human Intelligence Forming in the Rhythm of Solar Activity
Published: 2025-05-10
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Biology, Earth Sciences, Neuroscience and Neurobiology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Planetary Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
This study relates to environmental biology and examines a possible link between atmospheric radiation ecology, modulated by space weather, and human cognitive development by analyzing correlations of solar activity phenomena with various indicators of intellectual potential. A novel metric, the Proton Flare Index (PFI), is introduced to quantify the influence of high-energy solar proton events [...]
Solution of the Bloch Equation Based on Spectral Diagonalization and Matrix Exponential Integration: Modeling of SSFP for SNMR
Published: 2025-05-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Soil Science
We present a spectral-diagonalization-based matrix exponential integration (SD-MEI) algorithm for efficient and stable solutions of fully coupled Bloch equations in surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR). Conventional explicit numerical methods exhibit cumulative discretization errors and escalating computational costs due to step-size dependence and finite precision limitations. SD-MEI [...]
A Review of Atmospheric Micro/Nanoplastics: Insights into Source and Fate for Modelling Studies
Published: 2025-05-09
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Environmental Sciences
Micro/nanoplastics (MNPs), as emerging pollutants, have attracted increasing attention due to their potential adverse effects on human health, ecosystems, and climate. The rapid, turbulent, and large-scale nature of atmospheric transport facilitates both horizontal and vertical movement of MNPs over long distances within a short time, largely independent of topographical constraints, thereby [...]
Initial assessment of all-season Arctic sea ice thickness from ICESat-2
Published: 2025-05-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
We present an initial assessment of all-season Arctic sea ice thickness estimates from ICESat-2 by combining freeboard retrievals with all-season SnowModel-LG snow loading. ICESat-2 captures the key regional and seasonal patterns of Arctic sea ice variability and shows good agreement with CryoSat-2 all-season estimates, including regional patterns of inter-annual variability in summer ice [...]
Pliocene to Holocene deformation and earthquake potential of the Mesamávida fault, West Andean Thrust System of central-southern Chile (36ºS)
Published: 2025-05-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Crustal reverse faults are recognized for their potential to generate devastating earthquakes, making them a focus of seismic hazard assessment. Along the Chilean Andes, the Western Andean Thrust System (WATS)—a structure marking the Central Valley-Principal Cordillera border—includes several probable late Quaternary faults. However, evidence for large Holocene earthquakes (M~7) has only been [...]
The Apalachicola Barrier Island complex: a benchmark for MIS 5e (125 ka) sea-level oscillations?
Published: 2025-05-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology
The geomorphological and stratigraphic framework of coastal sandy barrier systems preserve records of past sea-level changes, climatic shifts, and storm histories. Recent methodological advances such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), LiDAR topography, and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating now allow for high-resolution reconstructions of these past coastal dynamics, significantly [...]
Challenges in using modern pollen analogs for Cenozoic paleoecology: examples from the European Neogene
Published: 2025-05-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Plant Sciences
The use of modern pollen analogs in paleoecology is well established in Quaternary studies; however, the reliability of this approach decreases with increasing geological age due to evolutionary changes. Establishing a definitive chronological boundary beyond which modern pollen analogs remain reliable is currently unfeasible. This limitation affects not only paleoenvironmental reconstructions [...]
A SCALABLE MACHINE LEARNING MODELLING TOOL FOR MAPPING LANDSLIDE RUNOUT USING A CASE STUDY IN HAWKES BAY, NEW ZEALAND
Published: 2025-05-02
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering, Other Statistics and Probability
Understanding landslide runout is crucial for land use planning, utility networks, and assessing infrastructure resilience on slopes. Recent guidance recommends incorporating landslide runout models along with climate change implications when assessing land for development. The advancement of machine learning (ML) techniques can offer new insights and a tool to be used alongside current methods. [...]
Application of mud gas analysis for reservoir evaluation
Published: 2025-05-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Mud gas, which is usually used for monitoring the safety of the wells while drilling, can also be used as a formation evaluation tool. This study aims to analyse mud gas ratios and compare them with the traditional formation evaluation tools, such as resistivity. The analysis of four wells, either exploration or development wells, located in differing geological settings, shows that [...]
Cooling after net zero
Published: 2025-05-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Climate policy aims to limit global warming by achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Climate models indicate that achieving net-zero emissions yields a nearly constant global temperature over the following decades. However, whether temperatures remain stable in the centuries after net-zero emissions is uncertain, as models produce conflicting results. Here, we explain how this disagreement [...]
Reliability of Contrast-Based Automated Fracture Detection from Decimeter Resolution Aerial Imagery
Published: 2025-04-30
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering, Other Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Aerial imagery that captures outcrop exposures of rocks enables the characterization of structural discontinuities such as faults and fractures across large and difficult-to-access areas. These datasets provide an opportunity to analyze the characteristics of fault and fracture networks as analogues for the subsurface. The application of automated interpretation methods to imagery has the [...]
Natural forests of the world - a 2020 baseline for deforestation and degradation monitoring
Published: 2025-04-29
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Remote Sensing
Informed decisions to reduce deforestation, protect biodiversity, and curb carbon emissions require not just knowing where forests are, but understanding their composition. Identifying natural forests, which serve as critical biodiversity hotspots and major carbon sinks, is particularly valuable. We developed a novel global natural forest map for 2020 at 10 m resolution. This map can support [...]