Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Convergence in simulating global soil organic carbon by structurally different models after data assimilation
Published: 2023-11-20
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences
The current generation of biogeochemical models produce large uncertainty in carbon-climate feedback projections. Structural differences in these models have been identified as a major source of inter-model uncertainties when simulating soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics worldwide. However, parameterization could also play a role, particularly when common observational data are used to constrain [...]
Evidence that seismic anisotropy captures upstream palaeo ice fabric: Implications on present day deformation at Whillans Ice Stream, Antarctica
Published: 2023-11-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Understanding deformation and slip at ice streams, which are responsible for 90% of Antarctic ice loss, is vital for accurately modelling large-scale ice flow. Ice preferred crystal orientation fabric (COF) has a first-order effect on ice stream deformation. For the first time, we use shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements of basal icequakes at Whillans Ice Stream (WIS), Antarctica, to determine [...]
Downsystem Grain-Size Trends and Mass Balance of an Ancient Wave-Influenced Sediment Routing System: Middle Jurassic Brent Delta, Northern North Sea, Offshore UK and Norway
Published: 2023-11-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
We reconstruct upsystem-to-downsystem grain-size variations in the sediment routing systems of the data-rich Middle Jurassic Brent Group of the northern North Sea, using published stratigraphic, thickness, palaeogeographic, provenance and age constraints combined with representative core and wireline-log data. Facies associations provide a textural proxy for gravel, sand and mud grain-size [...]
Helium, carbon and nitrogen isotope evidence for slab influence on volcanic gas emissions at Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2023-11-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The chemical and isotopic composition of the gases emitted by subduction zone volcanoes can provide insights into the origin of magmatic volatiles. In volcanic arcs, magmatic volatiles and therefore emitted gases can be supplied from the mantle, the subducting slab, or the rocks of the arc crust. Determining the relative contributions of these distinct sources is important for understanding the [...]
Looking upstream: analyzing the protection of the drainage area of Amazon rivers
Published: 2023-11-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
In the Amazon, aquatic ecosystems provide essential ecosystem services, including transportation, food, and livelihoods for millions of species. Land use changes and management impact these ecosystem services, and these impacts are not limited to the specific areas where they occur but propagate downstream along the drainage network. However, assessment of the accumulated human footprint upstream [...]
ACCE DTP EDI Report 2023
Published: 2023-11-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Environmental Sciences, Higher Education
Underrepresentation of minoritised and historically disadvantaged groups is prevalent in PhD recruitment, particularly in environmental sciences. The environmental science focussed ‘Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment’ Doctoral Training Partnership (ACCE DTP) was awarded funding from the Natural Environment Research Council for an EDI-centred project. This project aimed to [...]
Transgression–regression cycles drive correlations in Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records
Published: 2023-11-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy
Strata of the Ediacaran Period (635–538.8 Ma) yield the oldest known fossils of complex, macroscopic organisms in the geologic record. These “Ediacaran-type” macrofossils (known as the Ediacaran biota) first appear in mid-Ediacaran strata, experience an apparent decline through the terminal Ediacaran, and directly precede the Cambrian (538.8–485.4 Ma) radiation of animals. Existing hypotheses for [...]
Petrological Evolution and Mass Redistribution in Basaltic Fault Zones: An Example from the Faroe Islands, North Atlantic Igneous Province
Published: 2023-11-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Fault rock petrology exerts an important control on the permeability structure and mechanical properties of fault zones. Slip-related deformation on upper-crustal faults in basaltic rocks is closely associated with fluid-rock interaction, altering the distribution of physical properties within the fault. Here we present quantitative descriptions of the geochemical and petrological evolution of [...]
Deep Learning for Deep Earthquakes: Insights from OBS Observations of the Tonga Subduction Zone
Published: 2023-11-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Applications of machine learning in seismology have greatly improved our capability of detecting earthquakes in large seismic data archives. Most of these efforts have been focused on continental shallow earthquakes, but here we introduce an integrated deep-learning-based workflow to detect deep earthquakes recorded by a temporary array of ocean-bottom seismographs (OBSs) and land-based stations [...]
Excited state lifetime of electron trapping centres in alkali feldspars
Published: 2023-11-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Mineral Physics, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
The development of the infrared photoluminescence (IRPL) signal enables the direct non-destructive probing of the trapped electron population in feldspars. Whilst IRPL offers new perspectives for luminescence dating, it also enables detailed, site-selective measurements of the dosimetric defects emitting IRPL at 880 nm (IRPL880) and 955 nm (IRPL955), allowing improved understanding of [...]
Sounding out the river: Seismic and hydroacoustic monitoring of bedload transport in an alluvial river
Published: 2023-11-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Seismological observations provide a non-invasive and continuous means of indirect measurement of fluvial bedload transport (i.e. the transport of coarse granular material, as a function of water depth, in rivers). However, a significant challenge remains in independently characterising the seismic signature of bedload transport from other sources, such as turbulence. Previous research suggested [...]
PyIRoGlass: An Open-Source, Bayesian MCMC Algorithm for Fitting Baselines to FTIR Spectra of Basaltic-Andesitic Glasses
Published: 2023-11-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Quantifying volatile concentrations in magmas is critical for understanding magma storage, phase equilibria, and eruption processes. We present PyIRoGlass, an open-source Python package for quantifying H$_2$O and CO$_2$ species concentrations in the transmission FTIR spectra of basaltic to andesitic glasses. We leverage a database of naturally degassed melt inclusions and back-arc basin basalts [...]
Petrographic and geochemical evidence for a complex magmatic plumbing system beneath Bagana volcano, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2023-10-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
Bagana is a persistently active stratovolcano located on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Characteristic activity consists of prolonged lava effusion over months to years, with occasional shifts to explosive vulcanian or subplinian eruptions which threaten surrounding communities. Satellite observations have shown that Bagana is a major SO2 emitter, particularly during eruptive intervals. [...]
Pacific shoreline erosion and accretion patterns controlled by El Niño/Southern Oscillation
Published: 2023-10-27
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Climate, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In the Pacific Basin, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual climate variability, driving substantial changes in oceanographic forcing and impacting Pacific coastlines. Yet, how sandy coasts respond to these basin-scale changes has to date been limited to a few long-term beach monitoring sites, predominantly on developed coasts. Here we use 38 years of Landsat [...]
Testing the applicability of standardised growth curves (SGC) for chemically heterogeneous single-grain feldspars from the Atacama Desert, Chile
Published: 2023-10-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences
The Atacama Desert is generally considered the driest non-polar desert on Earth and is therefore an ideal study area for exploring the water and biota free endmember of Earth’s Critical Zone (ECZ). Single grain (SG) luminescence dating has successfully identified processes in the ECZ. However, SG luminescence dating of Atacama Desert feldspars is challenging and time consuming since only a small [...]