Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geophysics and Seismology
SpecFWAT: Specfem3D-based Full-waveform Adjoint Tomography Package for High-resolution Lithospheric Imaging
Published: 2026-02-27
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
We present SpecFWAT, a high-performance, open-source software package designed for full-waveform adjoint tomography at the lithospheric scale using multiple data types. Building upon the spectral-element forward solver SPECFEM3D, SpecFWAT introduces a modernized inversion framework featuring an object-oriented Fortran design and a CMake-based build environment. To enhance usability and [...]
EQ-INSAR: A Python Package for Generating Synthetic Earthquake InSAR Deformation Data
Published: 2026-02-24
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Remote Sensing
EQ-INSAR is an open-source Python package for generating synthetic Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) surface deformation data from earthquake sources. The package implements the Davis (1986) point source model to compute three component ground displacement from double-couple earthquake mechanisms. Then it projects the displacement onto satellite line-of-sight (LOS) geometries to [...]
Seismic Efficiency during Volcanic Unrest: Insights from the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull Eruption
Published: 2026-02-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Volcanology
Identifying patterns in precursory signals may aid forecasting over month to year timescales. Here we examine the relationship between seismicity and ground deformation during unrest prior to the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. We find that the ratio between seismic moment and horizontal GPS ground displacement is constant within two distinct phases, but with a step increase from one to the [...]
Cross-referencing astronaut-observed lunar impact flashes with seismic data - lessons from Apollo for Artemis
Published: 2026-02-21
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
During their orbits of the Moon in 1972, Apollo astronauts reported three impact flashes on the lunar surface, associated with meteoroids striking the surface and vaporizing. We examined data from the Apollo seismic network to investigate whether these flashes produced detectable moonquakes whose locations and timing could be independently validated. No candidate matches were found, though stream [...]
Inverting InSAR Observations to Estimate Basal Melt Rates: A Grounding‑Line Response Function Approach
Published: 2026-02-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The grounding line hinge position for the Fimbul Ice Shelf (Antarctic Peninsula) was determined using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometric data from June 2023 through October 2024. The data were used to determine the hinge position over eight different time intervals (i.e., SAR Pairs) at an average spatial resolution of 20 meters. The Fimbul Ice Shelf area of interest (AOI) was defined [...]
A 3-D Hybrid SEM-FK Method for Teleseismic Wave Simulation in Coupled Elastic-Acoustic Media
Published: 2026-02-14
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present a three-dimensional hybrid numerical scheme developed for modeling teleseismic plane-wave propagation through coupled acoustic–elastic media. This approach integrates the 3-D spectral-element method (SEM) with a matrix-based frequency–wavenumber (FK) method, enabling the rigorous treatment of complex bathymetry and precise elastic–acoustic coupling within layered media. To facilitate [...]
Multi-Sensor Fusion of Sentinel-2 Imagery and ICESat-2 Satellite Laser Bathymetry for Benthic Habitat Classification in Key Largo, Florida Keys
Published: 2026-02-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Multispectral imagery has traditionally been used to classify benthic habitats; however, many challenges exist when using this method alone including the overlap of spectral signatures among habitat types, and the loss of signal due to water depth in coastal areas. The authors propose an innovative method that combines multispectral imagery from Sentinel-2 (Tile 17RNJ, January 30, 2024) with [...]
A preliminary seismic catalog for the Mozambique Channel
Published: 2026-02-12
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
The Mozambique Channel is a 1,600-km long, 950 – 1,000-km wide deep-water arm of southwestern Indian Ocean, located between Mozambique and Madagascar Island. The channel hosts the offshore continuation of the East African Rift System, an active divergent plate boundary that has propagated from the African continent, across Mesozoic continental rifted margins, into Mesozoic oceanic lithosphere. [...]
Scholte-wave Adjoint Tomography for Building Low-frequency, Offshore Shear-wave Velocity Models
Published: 2026-02-12
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Field observations have shown that low-frequency (sub-1 Hz) Scholte waves retrieved from ocean-bottom node (OBN) data are strongly influenced by large-scale velocity heterogeneities such as salt bodies, underscoring their potential for offshore model building. However, procedures for translating this sensitivity into reliable subsur- face velocity models remains poorly understood. Motivated by [...]
Did Seattle go silent during the Superbowl?
Published: 2026-02-12
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Large-scale cultural events such as sports games and music concerts are known to cause localised seismic excitation above background noise levels. In this paper we investigate whether a comparable far-field 'quietening' could be observed during Superbowl LX (February 8, 2026) in the city of Seattle, hometown of the Seattle Seahawks, as people stayed indoors to watch the game. We find that a [...]
Accelerating 3D Magnetotelluric Forward Modelling with Domain Decomposition and Order-Reduction Methods
Published: 2026-02-06
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Geophysics and Seismology
Three-dimensional (3D) magnetotelluric (MT) forward modelling is computationally demanding, limiting its use in global uncertainty quantification and sampling-based probabilistic inversion. Here, we introduce a novel forward-modelling framework that combines an iterative domain decomposition (DD) formulation with proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) reduced-order modelling to enable scalable and [...]
Evidence of a ULVZ near Vanuatu from Sdiff postcursors
Published: 2026-02-06
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Thin anomalous structures known as ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) have been found on the core-mantle boundary (CMB) and have extreme velocity reductions. These features are detected due to their effect on seismic waves that travel through them, typically producing precursors or postcursors. In this study we use postcursors to shear core-diffracted waves (Sdiff+) that sample the CMB near Vanuatu [...]
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 [...]
3-D Elastic Time-Reverse Imaging of a Linear Void Anomaly
Published: 2026-01-28
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
Imaging meter-scale subsurface heterogeneities such as void spaces remains a difficult task for most established near-surface seismic methods. One strategy for addressing this challenge is to isolate and use surface waves backscattered from lateral heterogeneities to identify and characterize the sources of scattered energy. Seismic methods associated with this strategy, though, often require [...]
INTEGRATE - a Python package for fast localized probabilistic inversion using informed priors, applied to EM data
Published: 2026-01-28
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology
We present INTEGRATE, a Python package for fast localized probabilistic inversion of geophysical data. The framework provides a general approach for Bayesian inference in localized inverse problems, where the same prior information applies to many independent datasets. INTEGRATE implements an extended rejection sampling algorithm with temperature annealing for efficient posterior sampling. The [...]