Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geophysics and Seismology
Dueling dynamics of low-angle normal fault rupture with splay faulting and off-fault damage
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology
Despite a lack of modern large earthquakes on shallowly dipping normal faults, Holocene Mw>7 low-angle normal fault (LANF; dip<30°) ruptures are preserved paleoseismically and inferred from historical earthquake and tsunami accounts. Even in well-recorded megathrust earthquakes, the effects of non-linear off-fault plasticity and dynamically reactivated splay faults on shallow deformation [...]
The Geological Pathway Diversity Model (GPDM): A Unified Classification and Predictive Framework for Anomalous Luminous Phenomena
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Anomalous luminous phenomena - recurring visible plasma events at fixed geographic locations, reported globally over centuries as earth lights, earthquake lights, and spook lights - lack a unified physical classification system and predictive framework. We present the Geological Pathway Diversity Model (GPDM), which proposes that these phenomena share a common underlying mechanism - Freund's [...]
Widespread urban seismic quietening during the 2024 total solar eclipse
Published: 2026-04-16
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Estimating the ice thickness and water depth of a frozen lake using flexural waves recorded by distributed acoustic sensing
Published: 2026-04-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Information about frozen lakes, including ice rigidity, ice thickness, and water depth, is essential for both environmental studies and practical applications. Although these properties can be measured in the field, such measurements are labor-intensive and spatially limited, motivating the development of alternative observation methods. Seismic waves offer an alternative approach to studying [...]
Fractal Tomography and the Fisher Information Barrier of Seismicity: Addressing the Origin of Dual Paradoxes via Precision-Calibrated Bayesian Inference
Published: 2026-04-11
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Non-linear Dynamics, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Tectonics and Structure
The spatial organization of seismicity presents dual multi-decade paradoxes: (1) earthquake catalogs exhibit quasi-planar correlation dimensions (D2 ≈ 2.0–2.6) despite volumetric lithospheric deformation (geometric projection paradox), and (2) Bayesian inference systematically yields D3 ≈ 3.0 contradicting structural geology (Bayesian saturation paradox). We address both through the Fractal [...]
The 2025 𝑀𝑤 7.1 Tingri (South Tibet) Earthquake: Rupture of Normal Conjugate Optimally Oriented Faults, Shallow Coseismic Slip Deficit, and Early Afterslip
Published: 2026-04-05
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
On 7 January 2025, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Tingri County at the south of the Tibetan Plateau, China, producing widespread damage in the Lhatse-Sa'gya-Tingri region and adjacent areas. The earthquake ruptured a pair of conjugate north-south striking normal faults in the Dengmecuo graben, and was the largest normal earthquake instrumentally recorded in the region. We use Interferometric [...]
Multidisciplinary perspectives on Shishaldin Volcano: an open-system, deforming volcano
Published: 2026-04-03
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Volcanology
The integration of multidisciplinary data across multiple eruptions is essential to improve our understanding of a volcanic system. Shishaldin Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Alaska, with several reported eruptions over the last 300 years. We synthesize multidisciplinary datasets going back to 1997 and focus our analyses on the 2014–2015, 2019–2020, and 2023 eruptive periods. We [...]
First Empirical Measurement of k G on Mars via InSight/ELYSE Seismic Data: A Two-Planet Validation of the Gasque Compliance
Published: 2026-04-01
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology
We present the first empirical measurement of the Gasque compliance index k G = π × f₀ / (Q × V s ) on Mars, using 8.3 GB of InSight/ELYSE broadband seismic data (XB network, 2019–2022) processed with the Harmonic Matched Filter (HMF) pipeline. From 4,645,686 stacked PSD windows and 91 candidate frequencies tested via permutation (N = 1,000), five spectral features are recovered at p < 0.05, [...]
k G as a Passive Lithological Compliance Index Derivation from Independent Spectral Residuals and Validation across Seven Lithologies
Published: 2026-04-01
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
We present k G = π × f₀ / (Q × V s ) as a passive lithological compliance index measurable from ambient seismic noise without drilling or active sources. The fundamental frequency f₀ is extracted from spectral residuals after subtraction of the common seismic mode (oceanic microseism), while V s and Q are drawn from published borehole measurements. Using this three-source independent framework [...]
Hyperlocal Seismic Soil Characteristic Measurements for Unexploded Ordnance Detection
Published: 2026-03-31
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) range from small plastic landmines to unexploded cannon shells to bombs that weigh hundreds of kilograms. They kill and maim thousands of people each year, make otherwise productive real estate unusable, and exist worldwide. Their variability and the variability of the soil in which they exist defeat and delay cleanup efforts. Current search technology treats soil [...]
The Hermatz Effect: A Five-Layer Solar–Geo Dynamo Model for the Persistent 0.038 Hz Global Seismic Signal
Published: 2026-03-30
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Atmospheric Sciences, Condensed Matter Physics, Earth Sciences, Environmental Chemistry, Fluid Dynamics, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Meteorology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy, Other Physics, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Hydrology, Tectonics and Structure, The Sun and the Solar System
Earth produces a faint but globally detectable vibration at a period of exactly 26 seconds, and no one has fully explained why. This paper proposes that it comes from a crack in the ocean floor off West Africa acting like a tuned whistle — the ocean blows air through it, the crack vibrates at its natural frequency, and the vibration travels around the entire planet as a seismic wave. Occasionally [...]
Seismic and infrasound signals from the 2023 explosive eruption sequence of Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Volcanology
Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska erupted in 2023 with 13 explosive paroxysms over a 4 month period, producing notable seismic and low frequency acoustic (infrasound) signals recorded on a local geophysical network. We describe the pre-, syn-, and post-eruptive seismoacoustic signals from the 2023 eruption sequence. Using a recently developed machine learning classifier, we detect and categorize diverse [...]
On the Origin of Directional Variability in Earthquake Response Spectra: A Stochastic Covariance Framework
Published: 2026-03-22
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology
Directional variability of horizontal earthquake response spectra is commonly described using rotation-based measures such as RotD50 and RotD100, yet its physical and statistical origin remains unclear. This study shows that directional anisotropy arises fundamentally from finite-sample fluctuations of the covariance matrix of filtered ground-motion response. Even under perfectly isotropic [...]
Bimodal seismic-aseismic behavior of a weakly coupled megathrust segment revealed by kinematic analysis of a seismic swarm and slow slip event offshore Copiapó, Chile
Published: 2026-03-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A seismic swarm occurred in Chile in 2023, in a region well known for hosting this type of seismicity, the Atacama region, and more precisely within the low coupling zone of Barranquilla. It started on August 26th and lasts about 6~weeks, ending early October. Thanks to our high-density small-scale GNSS network, we recorded the spatio-temporal evolution of surface deformation generated by a slow [...]
Comprehensive Inventory of Coseismic Landslides Triggered by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes, Türkiye
Published: 2026-03-19
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology
We provide two geospatial inventories covering ~80,000 km² in southern Türkiye for the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence: (i) a coseismic landslide polygon inventory including 20,270 landslides and (ii) a pre-earthquake geomorphic inventory of pre-existing slope instability including 4,495 landslide polygons. Coseismic landslides were mapped by systematic expert visual [...]