Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geomorphology
Competing feedback in an idealized tide-influenced delta network
Published: 2021-12-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The morphodynamic evolution of river deltas is intimately tied to flow and sediment partitioning at bifurcations. In this work, the long-term equilibrium configuration of a simple delta network is investigated by means of an analytical model, which accounts for the effect of small tidal oscillations. Differently from individual bifurcations where tidal action is always a stabilizing factor, in [...]
Estuarine-deltaic controls on coastal carbon burial in the western Ganges-Brahmaputra delta over the last 5,000 years
Published: 2021-11-26
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability, Water Resource Management
The Ganges–Brahmaputra fluvial system drains the Himalayas and is one of the largest sources of terrestrial biosphere carbon to the ocean. It represents a major continental reservoir of CO2 associated with c. 1–2 billion tons of sediment transported each year. Shallow coastal environments receive substantial inputs of terrestrial carbon (900 Tg C yr−1), with allochthonous carbon capture on [...]
Streamlined subglacial bedform sensitivity to bed characteristics across the deglaciated Northern Hemisphere
Published: 2021-11-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology
Streamlined subglacial bedforms observed in deglaciated landscapes provide the opportunity to assess the sensitivity of glacier dynamics to bed characteristics across broader spatiotemporal scales than is possible for contemporary glacial systems. While many studies of streamlined subglacial bedforms rely on manual mapping and qualitative (i.e., visual) assessment, we semi-automatically identify [...]
Mesophotic Depth Biogenic Accumulations (“Biogenic Mounds”) Offshore the Maltese Islands, Central Mediterranean Sea
Published: 2021-10-28
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences
The mesophotic domain is a poorly explored part of the oceans, notably in the Mediterranean Sea. Benthic communities in these depths are not well documented and as such are under higher risk from anthropogenic impacts. Hard substrate habitats in this depth window are not common and are a key ecotope. The Malta Plateau in the central Mediterranean, which is characterized by low sedimentation [...]
Reproducibility in subsurface geoscience
Published: 2021-10-27
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Mineral Physics, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Sustainability, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology, Water Resource Management
Reproducibility, the extent to which consistent results are obtained when an experiment or study is repeated, sits at the foundation of science. The aim of this process is to produce robust findings and knowledge, with reproducibility being the screening tool to benchmark how well we are implementing the scientific method. However, the re-examination of results from many disciplines has caused [...]
Multi-temporal relative landslide risk analysis for sustainable development of rapidly growing cities
Published: 2021-10-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In the last decades, developing countries have experienced an increase in impact of natural disasters due to both the ongoing climate change and the sustained expansion of urban areas. Intrinsic vulnerability of settlements due to poverty and poor governance, as well as the lack of tools for urban occupation planning and mitigation protocols, have made such impact particularly severe. Cuenca [...]
Grain shape effects in bed load sediment transport
Published: 2021-10-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Geomorphology
Bed load sediment transport, in which wind or water flowing over a bed of sediment causes grains to roll or hop along the bed, is a critically important mechanism in contexts ranging from river restoration to planetary exploration. Despite its widespread occurrence, predictions of bed load sediment flux are notoriously imprecise. Many studies have focused on grain size variability as a source of [...]
The Effect of Formation Processes on The Frequency of Palaeolithic Cave Sites in Semi-Arid Zones: Insights From Kazakhstan
Published: 2021-10-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Speleology, Stratigraphy
Central Asian caves with Palaeolithic deposits are few but they provide a rich record of human fossils and cultural assemblages that has been used to model Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals. However, previous research has not yet systematically evaluated the formation processes that influence the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in the region. To address this deficiency, we combined field [...]
Rapid characterisation of the extremely large landslide threatening the Rules Reservoir (Southern Spain)
Published: 2021-10-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology
When an active landslide is first identified in an artificial reservoir, a comprehensive study has to be quickly conducted to analyse the possible hazard that it may represent to such a critical infrastructure. This paper presents the case of the El Arrecife Landslide, located in a slope of the Rules Reservoir (Southern Spain), as an example of geological and motion data integration for [...]
Discontinuity in Equilibrium Wave-Current Ripple Size and Shape Caused by a Winnowing Threshold in Cohesive Sand-Clay Beds
Published: 2021-09-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Sedimentology
Sediments composed of mixed cohesive clay and non-cohesive sand are widespread in a range of aquatic environments. The dynamics of ripples in mixed sand–clay substrates have been studied under pure current and pure wave conditions. However, the effect of cohesive clay on ripple development under combined currents and waves has not been examined, even though combined flows are common in estuaries, [...]
A survey of storm-induced seaward-transport features observed during the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons
Published: 2021-09-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Hurricanes are known to play a critical role in reshaping coastlines, particularly on the open ocean coast in cases of overwash, but storm induced seaward-directed flow and responses are often ignored or un-documented. Subaerial evidence for seaward sediment transport (outwash, return-flow) increases our understanding of the impact hurricanes have on coastal and barrier island evolution. Towards [...]
Assessment pebble virtual velocity from combined active RFID fixed stations and geophones
Published: 2021-09-06
Subjects: Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology
The monitoring of coarse sediment transport is a domain teeming with technical innovations and methodological developments aimed at improving the characterization of bedload processes at different spatial and temporal scales. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has improved sediment tracking experiments, allowing the characterization of processes at the individual particle and [...]
High interstadial sea levels over the past 420ka from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2021-09-06
Subjects: Climate, Geology, Geomorphology, Oceanography, Tectonics and Structure
The history of sea level across the Quaternary is essential for assessing past and future climate. Global sea-level reconstructions are typically derived from oxygen isotope curves, but require calibration with geological constraints that are scarce prior to the last glacial cycle (>130 thousand years ago). Here we show that the coral reef terrace sequence at the Huon Peninsula (Papua New Guinea) [...]
Centennial- and orbital-scale erosion beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet
Published: 2021-09-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Glaciology
Erosion beneath glaciers and ice sheets is a fundamental Earth-surface process dictating landscape development, which in turn influences ice-flow dynamics and the climate sensitivity of ice masses. The rate at which subglacial erosion takes place, however, is notoriously difficult to observe because it occurs beneath modern glaciers in a largely inaccessible environment. Here, we present 1) [...]
Safety and Belonging in the Field: A Checklist for Educators
Published: 2021-08-19
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Biogeochemistry, Climate, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Fresh Water Studies, Geochemistry, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Higher Education, Human Geography, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Meteorology, Mineral Physics, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Geography, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Planetary Sciences, Outdoor Education, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Biogeochemistry, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Glaciology, Planetary Hydrology, Planetary Mineral Physics, Planetary Sciences, Planetary Sedimentology, Remote Sensing, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Spatial Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Sustainability, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology, Water Resource Management
Ensuring taught fieldwork is a positive, generative, collective, and valuable experience for all participants requires considerations beyond course content. To guarantee safety and belonging, participants’ identities (backgrounds and protected characteristics) must be considered as a part of fieldwork planning and implementation. Furthermore, getting fieldwork right is an important step in [...]