Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
A Domain-Based Evolution Model for Red Sea: New Sea-Floor Spreading Evidence
Published: 2026-02-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences
The propagation of the Red Sea continental margin remains unevaluated. Despite the unanimous agreement that the southern Red Sea axial ridge valley is underlain by juvenile oceanic crust, there is a lack of such agreement for the central and northern Red Sea. Significant issues relating to Red Sea tectonics are whether the Arabian and Nubian plates have been completely separated (i.e., oceanic [...]
A metadata schema for documenting material samples from multiple domains
Published: 2026-02-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Databases and Information Systems, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Library and Information Science
This paper documents a metadata schema, implementation, and associated vocabularies developed for the Internet of Samples (iSamples) project to integrate geoscience, archaeology/anthropology, biology and genomics sample descriptions in a single cross-domain catalog. To develop the sample description scheme for sample discovery across these disparate domains, we reviewed the metadata schema and [...]
Elevated in-situ Vp/Vs preceding hydraulic-fracturing-induced earthquakes
Published: 2026-02-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Effective management of seismic hazard in geo-energy development demands real-time estimates of subsurface fault instability. However, real-time monitoring of pore pressure change during subsurface fluid injection remains challenging. Here, we present a novel high-resolution, non-tomographic monitoring strategy that tracks the ratio of seismic wave speeds (Vp/Vs) as a proxy for pore pressure [...]
Magmatic volatile budgets of the 2014 Tavurvur eruption at Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2026-01-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
Rabaul is a caldera volcano on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea, whose active cone Tavurvur ranks seventh globally for long-term SO2 and CO2 emissions. It is unknown why Rabaul is such a strong emitter of volcanic gases. Magma mixing between basaltic and dacitic magmas is envisioned to play a fundamental role in driving eruptions at Rabaul, but the compositions of mafic recharge magmas and [...]
The debt burden of tropical cyclones and climate change
Published: 2026-01-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Natural Resource Economics, Sustainability
Addressing climate change, through both mitigation and adaptation, is anticipated to require global investments of more than $6 trillion annually by 2035. However, many countries face significant barriers to accessing the finance needed for these investments, due to low or absent credit ratings, large debt burdens, and high borrowing costs. There is concern that climate change, through its [...]
Near-total loss of buttressing stresses observed on Pine Island Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
Published: 2026-01-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ice shelves, the floating extensions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, provide critical buttressing stresses that resist the seaward flow of ice and help set the position of the grounding line, where the ice goes afloat. As buttressing stresses are diminished by thinning or fracturing and collapse of the ice shelf, glaciers tend to accelerate. Here, we focus on the response of Pine Island Ice Shelf [...]
Spontaneous liquefaction in saturated granular deposits: State controlled boundary and surface reconfiguration
Published: 2026-01-26
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Engineering Science and Materials, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Mining Engineering, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Risk Analysis
In the case of water-saturated, granular deposits that are at risk of liquefaction, engineers need reliable information about the spatial extent of soil deformation in the event of liquefaction. It is not so important for them to know the exact location of the first failure. However, existing anal-yses primarily deal with the triggering of liquefaction and offer only limited information on how [...]
Estimation of Near-Surface Density using Vertical Gravity Gradients in Central and Western Japan
Published: 2026-01-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences
The Vertical Gravity Gradient (VGG), derived from the difference between terrestrial and airborne gravity data, highlights shallow density contrasts. We estimated the near-surface density structure of Central and Western Japan using VGGs derived from terrestrial data within 3 km of airborne flight lines. We constructed an inversion model on a 1/7-degree grid to estimate surface density and a [...]
Multi-level geothermal analysis of urban heat-in-place: a Leeds case study
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
As cities across the UK seek to decarbonise heat and achieve net-zero targets, shallow geothermal energy presents an underutilised yet promising resource. In this study, we evaluate the geothermal potential of the upper 1,000 m of the subsurface beneath Leeds, a major urban centre underlain by Carboniferous sandstone aquifers and abandoned coal mine workings. Using geological maps and legacy [...]
Magmatic degassing as the primary source of salt in Archean oceans
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The salinification of Earth’s early oceans impacted both the climate and the evolution of life. However, available halogen data of Archean seawater samples are at apparent odds with a conventionally assumed mantle origin of sea salt, highlighting a critical lack of mechanistic understanding of how the Archean oceans became salty. Here, we present new triple halogen (Cl-Br-I) data from high [...]
Petrological insights into magma storage and evolution at Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
Rabaul is a caldera volcano in Papua New Guinea. Its most recent caldera-forming eruption occurred ~1400 years ago, with numerous intra-caldera eruptions since. Erupted whole rock compositions are commonly attributed to fractional crystallisation along a single liquid line of descent, but mafic mineral clots indicate mafic recharge and magma mixing also influence whole rock compositions. [...]
A detailed picture of Haiti’s seismicity given by deep learning and template matching
Published: 2026-01-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Haiti regularly experiences destructive earthquakes, but seismic monitoring in the region has historically been limited. Recent deployments of citizen-hosted RaspberryShake seismometers and temporary seismic deployment following the 2021 Mw 7.2 earthquake provide new data to study the region’s seismotectonics. However, high noise levels at many stations, in particular the RaspberryShake ones, [...]
Manganese redox cycling drives the epitaxial growth of dolomite on metastable kutnahorite templates
Published: 2026-01-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
Fine-crystalline, fabric-preserving dolostones in deep-time successions defy high-temperature burial models, implying an elusive low-temperature formation pathway hindered by the kinetic hydration barrier of Mg2+ and the thermodynamic miscibility gap separating calcite from ordered dolomite. Here, we demonstrate a kinetically facile route to self-assembling dolomite driven by the synergy of [...]
Last Interglacial shoreline successions in southeastern Australia: A framework for identifying a waning mantle upwelling, neotectonic movements and sea-level change
Published: 2026-01-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
Relict shoreline successions are critically important for investigations of recent tectonism, as they are commonly amenable to dating and may provide information about surface displacement and changes in sea level since their deposition. In this study, Last Interglacial (MIS 5e; 128–116 ka) shoreline successions from 47 locations across southeastern Australia are reviewed. The surface [...]
Benchmarking analog and ensemble-based seasonal forecasting strategies for water management in the Upper Rio Grande basin
Published: 2026-01-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology
In the southwestern US, declining runoff efficiencies driven by a warming climate have undermined the skill of seasonal water supply forecast (WSF) methods used for reservoir management by local to federal agencies. Seasonal water allocations are often based on deterministic inflow sequences, derived by matching historical streamflow traces (analogs) to statistical WSF volumes; yet model-based [...]