Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
A semi-automated method for constructing three-dimensional models of complex fault networks
Published: 2025-01-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
Fault geometry and the connectivity between faults at depth are both important controls on the nucleation, propagation and arrest of earthquake rupture, so modelling these parameters accurately is essential to models of the earthquake cycle. However, simulations involving complex three-dimensional (3D) fault systems rarely explore the sensitivity of results to uncertainties in geometry and [...]
Hydrogenotrophic metabolisms in the subsurface and their implications for underground hydrogen storage and natural hydrogen prospecting
Published: 2025-01-09
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Hydrogen is a fundamental electron donor in diverse microbial metabolisms and it is considered the energetic currency exchanged within microbial communities in anaerobic environments. Hydrogen is also the major actor in the transition to alternative low-carbon energy sources, primarily due to its dual role as energy source and energy carrier and to the production of water as a byproduct of its [...]
Grain size evolution in mantle convection models promotes continuous rather than episodic tectonics
Published: 2025-01-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
A long-persistent caveat of geodynamic models with Earth-like tectonic behavior is the need of an ‘ad hoc’ yield stress lower than any laboratory-inferred rock strength. Grain size reduction due to dynamic recrystallization provides local weak zones in the lithosphere thereby promoting lithospheric breakdown and continuous mobile-lid tectonics. Grain growth should instead (re-)strengthen the [...]
2027: Waking the AKU-- A Cosmic Hyperobject View of the Ancient Giant Palm Forest on Rapa Nui
Published: 2025-01-07
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forest Sciences, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Plant Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences, Plant Sciences, The Sun and the Solar System
Can a repeating climate event be termed as a cosmic hyperobject? Even if it is dynamically changing within hundreds of thousands of years? At the center of this paper is the science: observable data, 15,000 years of climate change on Rapa Nui. Reaching into the past however we begin with a much broader mathematical view from the eyes of Milankovitch theories of the cosmos that stretches a million [...]
Water Storage in Hydrous Minerals in the Shallow Martian Mantle
Published: 2025-01-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Planetary Geochemistry
In this paper we investigate the possibility of storing water in the shallow martian mantle under water-saturated fluid absent conditions for different bulk silicate mars (BSM) compositions. We performed phase equilibria experiments on two BSM compositions with comparable Mg number for pressure between 2 and 4 GPa, temperatures between 950 to 1150°C, and for a water content of 0.3 % wt. The [...]
Techno-economic analysis of natural and stimulated geological hydrogen
Published: 2025-01-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Geological hydrogen has emerged as a low-cost and low-carbon primary source of energy. This study provides a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of natural geological hydrogen (GH) and stimulated geological hydrogen (SGH) production, reaffirming its potential as a low-cost energy source. For the United States, we estimate production costs at $0.54/kg for GH and $0.92/kg for SGH, demonstrating [...]
Is the Suez Rift in its post-rift phase?
Published: 2025-01-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Failed rifts are widely assumed to enter post-rift quiescence after termination of intracontinental rifting. However, this remains largely untested and a comprehensive evaluation of the rates and patterns of post-rift tectonic (in)activity is lacking. Our novel, rift-scale geomorphic analysis reveals “post-rift” rifting across the archetypal failed rift of Suez, in Egypt. Stacked topographic [...]
Sea level rise submergence simulations suggest substantial deterioration of Indian River Lagoon ecosystem services by 2050, Florida, U.S.A.
Published: 2025-01-03
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
The Indian River Lagoon is a 250-km long Estuary of National Significance located along the east central Florida coast of the USA. NOAA tidal records generated at a station located in the central reaches of the estuary indicate sea level rise has accelerated over the past 20 years to an average of 9.6 ± 1.6 mm yr−1 (2003–2022) and it is expected to continue accelerating over the duration of this [...]
L-Band Radiometric Measurement of Liquid Water in Greenland's Firn: Comparative Analysis with In Situ Measurements and Modeling
Published: 2025-01-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology
The addition and refreezing of liquid water to Greenland's accumulation area are increasingly important processes for assessing the ice sheet’s present and future mass balance, but uncertain initial conditions, complex infiltration physics, and limited field data pose challenges. Satellite-based L-band radiometry offers a promising new tool for observing liquid water in the firn layer, although [...]
Chromium Isotopes: A Window into Atmospheric Oxygenation
Published: 2024-12-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Chromium (Cr) isotopes are pivotal proxies for understanding Earth’s atmospheric oxygenation history. This review highlights δ53Cr signatures as tools for reconstructing redox dynamics during events like the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) and the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event (NOE). Advances in analytical techniques, particularly multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry [...]
Site Planning for a Network of Government-operated Weather Stations in the Dominican Republic Using Zonal Statistics from Geospatial Sources, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making, and Neighborhood Analysis
Published: 2024-12-30
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Spatial Science
Many weather station networks lack sufficient representativeness, and their station density is often inadequate to capture spatial and climatic variability effectively. Optimal site selection is therefore essential to enhance spatial coverage and improve data quality. This study proposes a methodology for identifying optimal sites for a meteorological station network in the Dominican Republic, [...]
Beyond Boundary Lines: Emerging Innovative Trends in Geospatial Data for Decision-Making
Published: 2024-12-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
As technology and the use of data innovates and iterates by the second, so does the use and implementation of geospatial data into decision-making processes across the globe. The use of geospatial data is intertwined in every part of life with technology, from accessing bank transactions to adaptive navigational systems. This literature review identifies new and evolving trends in the use of [...]
Cambrian foreland phosphogenesis in the Khuvsgul Basin of Mongolia
Published: 2024-12-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Ediacaran-Cambrian phosphorite deposits in northern Mongolia have been associated with a putative increase in nutrient delivery to the global oceans that drove oxygenation and the rise of animals. However, like many phosphorites from this ~130 Myr interval, the precise age and depositional setting of these deposits remain poorly constrained. Here, we integrate new geological mapping, [...]
Emulator-based Bayesian calibration of a subglacial drainage model
Published: 2024-12-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Subglacial drainage models, often motivated by the relationship between hydrology and ice flow, sensitively depend on numerous unconstrained parameters. We explore using borehole water-pressure timeseries to calibrate the uncertain parameters of a popular subglacial drainage model, taking a Bayesian perspective to quantify the uncertainty in parameter estimates and in the calibrated model [...]
Beyond fractures: the role of bedding planes in fluid flow pathways within a well-bedded carbonate sequence
Published: 2024-12-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Conventionally, subsurface fluid flow modelling studies have concentrated on the characterization of fracture networks and their capacity to facilitate vertical and lateral fluid movements. This study utilizes unique field observations of oxidation halos in a well-bedded carbonate sequence in the Paris Basin, France, offering new perspectives on fluid flow pathways. It demonstrates that, in [...]