Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Tectonics and Structure
Geodynamic Model Description for Ptolemy’s Germania Magna
Published: 2026-05-13
Subjects: Analysis, Astrophysics and Astronomy, Dynamical Systems, Dynamic Systems, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Mathematics, Other Applied Mathematics, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Planetary Sciences, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, The Sun and the Solar System, Volcanology
This model proposes that the well-documented geodynamic and climatic disruption of the 6th century AD involved a reactivation of the ancient Caledonian Deformation Front (CDF) and the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ), most likely triggered by cosmic events in the form of impacts or airbursts. Large-scale inversion tectonics, driven by Alpine compressive forces, are argued to have caused [...]
Hot orogen behaviour, partial melting and ductile flow: Case study of the Damara Orogen, Namibia
Published: 2026-05-11
Subjects: Tectonics and Structure
The Damara Orogen in Namibia preserves an exceptional record of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian continent–continent collision during Gondwana assembly. It provides a natural laboratory suitable for testing thermomechanical models of hot orogens. We integrate regional-scale structural mapping from satellite imagery and aeromagnetic data with published lithostratigraphic, metamorphic, magmatic, and [...]
Reassessing long-term exhumation rates in magmatic terranes
Published: 2026-05-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Crustal exhumation is central to mountain building, weathering, and sediment production processes, which significantly influence the composition and behavior of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. It also controls the formation, enrichment, and preservation of porphyry copper deposits, which are a vital source of metals for the clean energy technologies underpinning the global green energy transition. [...]
Extreme recharge triggers seismicity in a confined karst aquifer in southern Spain
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Tectonics and Structure
Hydrological forcing during extreme recharge events can perturb crustal stress and trigger seismicity in a critically stressed crust, yet the coupling between aquifer dynamics and the spatio-temporal distribution of earthquake swarms remains poorly constrained. Here we document such a response during an exceptional rainfall episode in early 2026 that affected a confined karst aquifer in southern [...]
Reevaluating the Abbabis Complex: Intrusive relationships and melt connectivity in a syn-orogenic migmatite–granite system, Damara Orogen, Namibia
Published: 2026-04-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
The Abbabis Complex in the Damara Orogen has long been interpreted as a pre-Damaran (c. 1–2 Ga) basement terrane unconformably overlain by Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Damara Supergroup. New field mapping and geochemical data from the Ida Dome and Husabberg Anticlinorium encourages re-evaluation of this interpretation. The Abbabis Complex comprises migmatites, larger leucogranite [...]
Upper Crustal Control on Nearshore Subduction Mechanics in Cascadia
Published: 2026-04-24
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
Along-strike upper plate heterogeneity is widely observed at subduction margins, but its direct influence on slab geometry and interseismic deformation remains debated. Here, we investigate the effect of upper-crustal geological segmentation on nearshore subduction mechanics at the Cascadia margin. Using a high-resolution, shore-crossing 3-D seismic tomography model from central to southern [...]
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
Atmospheric plasma phenomena — persistent luminous orbs, recurrent earth lights, and earthquake lights observed at geographically distributed sites worldwide — share a common mechanism family rooted in stress-activated electronic charge carrier physics. The Geological Pathway Diversity Model (GPDM) formally classifies six geological activation pathways. Version 2.4 introduces four new Variable 3 [...]
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 [...]
Automated Detection of Slow Slip Events from InSAR: Application to the North Anatolian Fault
Published: 2026-04-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The growing volume of InSAR time series offers new opportunities to systematically detect transient aseismic deformation, but identifying low-amplitude slow slip events (SSEs) remains challenging due to noise and limited temporal resolution. Here, we adapt the geodetic matched filter, originally developed for GNSS data, to InSAR displacement time series in the context of shallow strike-slip [...]
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 [...]
Characterization of the Kinematics of the Cordillera Blanca Normal Fault from InSAR
Published: 2026-03-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The Cordillera Blanca Normal fault (CBNF), located along the western margin of the Cordillera Blanca batholith in northern Peru, is a major extensional structure of the central Andes. Geological and geomorphological evidence indicates sustained slip over the past ~4 Ma, yet its present-day kinematics have not been quantified geodetically. Here, we use Sentinel-1 InSAR (Interferometric [...]
Interplay between geometry and brittle deformation of bedrock fault scarps
Published: 2026-03-01
Subjects: Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Energy built up during interseismic phases is released during earthquakes as seismic energy and dissipated within fault zones. Seismological observations indicate spatial variations in earthquake behavior across a fault (e.g., rupture speed, stress drop, wave directivity). However, how this relates to energy dissipation through brittle fracturing in the fault zone is difficult to quantify from [...]
The Role of Flexure Margins in Controlling Open Fracture Distribution: Insights from Analogue Modeling of Orthogonal Rift and Pull-Apart Systems
Published: 2026-02-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Hydrocarbon exploration in Basement Fracture Reservoirs faces significant challenges in predicting fracture connectivity below seismic resolution. This study utilizes analogue sandbox modeling to compare the spatial distribution of open fractures in orthogonal normal fault systems and pull-apart basins. Methodological innovation is implemented through the use of a 1 mm thick gypsum layer atop 8 [...]
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. [...]
Shifting the Paradigm: Redefining the Chronostratigraphy of the Triassic Rewan Group, Bowen Basin, Australia
Published: 2026-02-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The Triassic continental Rewan Group in the northern Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia, consisting of the Sagittarius Sandstone and the Arcadia Formation, preserves a key record of terrestrial environments and faunas that have been assumed to document recovery following the end‑Permian mass extinction (EPME). The Rewan Group accumulated in a retroarc foreland basin during the Hunter–Bowen [...]