Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
The development of the eastern Orpheus rift basin, offshore eastern Canada: A case study of the interplay between rift-related faulting and salt deposition and flow
Published: 2022-03-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The salt-rich Orpheus rift basin, part of the eastern North American (ENAM) rift system, formed during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic prior to opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Using a dense grid of 2D seismic-reflection lines, data from nearby wells, and information from adjacent ENAM rift basins, we have established a tectonostratigraphic framework, identified key structural elements, and [...]
Abrupt shift to El Niño-like mean state conditions in the tropical Pacific during the Little Ice Age
Published: 2022-03-11
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Hydrology
The mean state of the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere climate, in particular its east-west asymmetry, has profound consequences for regional climates and for the El Niño/ Southern Oscillation variability. Here we present a new high-resolution paleohydrological record using the stable-hydrogen-isotopic composition of terrestrial-lipid biomarkers (δDwax) from a 1,400-year-old lake sedimentary [...]
Multi-faceted analyses of seasonal trends and drivers of land surface variables in Indo-Gangetic river basins
Published: 2022-03-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Statistics and Probability
The Indo-Gangetic river basins feature a wide range of climatic, topographic, and land cover characteristics providing a suitable setting for the exploration of multivariate time series. Here, we collocated a comprehensive feature space for these river basins including Earth observation time series on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), surface water area (SWA), and snow cover area [...]
Marine ecosystem changepoints spread under ocean warming in an Earth System Model
Published: 2022-03-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Sudden shifts in marine plankton communities in response to environmental changes are of special concern because of their low predictability and high potential impacts on ocean ecosystems. We explored how anthropogenic climate change influences the spatial extent and frequency of changepoints in plankton populations by comparing the behavior of a plankton community in a coupled Earth System Model [...]
Climate nonlinearities: selection, uncertainty, projections, & damages
Published: 2022-03-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences
\textbf{Abstract:} Climate projections are highly uncertain; this uncertainty is costly and impedes progress on climate policy. This uncertainty is primarily parametric (what numbers do we plug into our equations?) and structural (what equations do we use in the first place?). The former is straightforward to characterise in principle, though may be computationally intensive for complex climate [...]
State-dependence of Cenozoic thermal extremes
Published: 2022-03-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Oxygen isotopes in sediments reflect Earth's past temperature, revealing a cooling over the Cenozoic punctuated by multimillenial thermal extreme events. These extremes are captured by the generalized extreme value distribution, and the distribution's shape changes with baseline temperature such that large thermal extremes are more likely in warmer climates. Anthropogenic warming has the [...]
Geodynamics of continental rift initiation and evolution
Published: 2022-03-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
A rift is a nascent plate boundary where continental lithosphere is extended and possibly broken. In the geologic past, rifting played a major role in shaping the surface of our planet, while at present, continental rifts are of societal relevance by hosting key georesources such as geothermal energy and ore deposits. This Review discusses fundamental rift processes, geodynamic forces and their [...]
Magma chamber detected beneath an arc volcano with high-resolution velocity images
Published: 2022-03-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Volcanology
Arc volcanoes are underlain by complex systems of molten-rock reservoirs ranging from melt-poor mush zones to melt-rich magma chambers. Petrological and satellite data indicate that eruptible magma chambers form in the topmost few kilometres of the crust. However, very few chambers have ever been definitively located, suggesting that most are too short-lived or too small to be imaged, which has [...]
Climate control on the relationship between erosion rate and fluvial topography
Published: 2022-03-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Conceptual and theoretical models for landscape evolution suggest that fluvial topography is sensitive to climate. However, it remains challenging to demonstrate a compelling link between fluvial topography and climate in natural landscapes. One possible reason is that many studies compare erosion rates to climate data, although theoretical studies show that, at steady state, climate is encoded [...]
High-resolution Ge-Si-Fe, Cr isotope and Th-U data for the Neoarchean Temagami BIF, Canada, suggest primary origin of BIF bands and oxidative terrestrial weathering 2.7 Ga ago
Published: 2022-03-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
ABSTRACT Unique deposits that formed in the Precambrian oceans are the Banded Iron-Formations (BIFs) which are chemical sediments comprised of alternating layers of iron- and silica-dominated precipitates. The origin of this enigmatic banding is still debated, with most favoring a primary sedimentary and a few others arguing for a secondary diagenetic origin. We here used a high-resolution [...]
Fault slip-rates and Coulomb stress interactions in the intersection zone of the Hope, Kelly and Alpine Faults, South Island, New Zealand
Published: 2022-02-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The Hope Fault is a major strike-slip plate boundary fault in the Marlborough Fault Zone of New Zealand’s South Island that transfers slip between the Alpine Fault and Hikurangi subduction zone. We use lidar-based geomorphic and fault mapping, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL; quartz) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL; feldspar) dating of fault-proximal sedimentary deposits to [...]
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for probabilistic weather and climate risk modelling: an implementation in CLIMADA v.3.1.
Published: 2022-02-23
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Climate, Design of Experiments and Sample Surveys, Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Numerical Analysis and Computation, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Risk Analysis, Statistical Methodology
Modelling the risk of natural hazards for society, ecosystems, and the economy is subject to strong uncertainties, even more so in the context of a changing climate, evolving societies, growing economies, and declining ecosystems. Here we present a new feature of the climate risk modelling platform CLIMADA which allows to carry out global uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. CLIMADA underpins [...]
Accurate chronological construction for two young stalagmites from the tropical South Pacific
Published: 2022-02-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Modern to Holocene tropical Pacific stalagmites are commonly difficult to date with the U-series, the most commonly used dating method for speleothems. When U-series does not provide robust age models, due to multiple sources of 230Th or little U, radiocarbon is, potentially, the best alternative. The 14C content of two stalagmites (Pu17 and Nu16) collected from Pouatea and Nurau caves in the [...]
The south-verging Isortoq Nappe of Baffin Island, Canada: implications on the framework of the northeastern Trans-Hudson Orogen
Published: 2022-02-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Isortoq Shear Zone (ISZ), a 100km-scale structure in northern Baffin Island, was originally identified through the interpretation of regional geophysical surveys. In the field the ISZ is cryptic, and its significance ambiguous with respect to the regional structural framework of northern Baffin Island. Mapping along the ISZ and within the spatially associated Archean Isortoq and Eqe Bay [...]
Early evolution of the Adelaide Superbasin
Published: 2022-02-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Continental rifts have a significant role in supercontinent breakup, and the development of sedimentary basins. The Australian Adelaide Superbasin is one of the largest and best-preserved rift systems that initiated during the breakup of Rodinia, yet substantial challenges still hinder our understanding of its early evolution and place within the Rodinian supercontinent. In the past decade, our [...]