Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geomorphology
An Open-Source, Data-Driven Interactive Web Framework for 3D Visualization of Geoheritage Sites: A Case Study of the Grand Canyon Arizona, United States
Published: 2026-08-28
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Geology, Geomorphology
Effective dissemination, public engagement, and educational utilization of prominent geoheritage sites are often hindered by the steep learning curves, high computational requirements, and licensing costs inherent to professional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and 3D geological modeling software. To bridge this accessibility gap and democratize spatial data, we present a universal, [...]
Desert pavements stabilise arid vegetation patterns
Published: 2026-08-26
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Earth Sciences, Geomorphology
Some vegetation patterns have aridity-dependent morphology. On low-angle arid hillslopes, vegetation organises into bands which follow topographic contours. Terraces emerge with these bands due to vegetation’s drag on sediment-laden runoff, creating a topographic signature of life diagnostic of precipitation rate. Another widespread feature of arid environments is desert pavement, surficial [...]
Data Test of a Hydro-Kinematic State Graph for Landslide Forecasting
Published: 2026-08-26
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Statistics and Probability
A graph model can make landslide-monitoring relationships explicit, but a graph is not automatically more informative than a well-regularized time-series model. This study tests that distinction on the publicly released Lamosano landslide record from northeastern Italy. The processed dataset contains 161 observations of 11-day horizontal InSAR differential displacement and rainfall from 10 April [...]
Flood Susceptibility Mapping and Engineering Exposure Assessment of Zhob District, Balochistan, Using Sentinel-1 SARValidated AHP and Frequency Ratio Modeling
Published: 2026-08-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Hydrology
Zhob District in northern Balochistan was substantially affected by the 2022 Pakistan monsoon floods, yet, unlike comparable districts mapped in the immediate aftermath of the same event (Larkana, Nowshera, Pishin, Quetta), it has lacked a dedicated, district-specific flood susceptibility assessment. This study addresses that gap using a hybrid Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Frequency Ratio [...]
Comparing UNet and HRNet for Geomorphic Feature Extraction from Digital Terrain Model-Derived Land Surface Parameters
Published: 2026-08-20
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Geology, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing
Automated extraction of geomorphic features from high spatial resolution terrain data is important for environmental monitoring, geohazard assessment, and landscape change analysis. This study compares two convolutional neural network architectures, UNet and High-Resolution Network (HRNet), for semantic segmentation of mine benches and sinkholes from lidar-derived digital terrain models and land [...]
A heuristic approach to structural consistency of a horizon surface with tectonic faults based on Mallet's discrete model
Published: 2026-08-20
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Mining Engineering, Theory and Algorithms
The paper addresses the problem of automating the consistency process between reflecting horizon surfaces and the network of tectonic faults in the construction of three-dimensional digital geological models within the explicit (surface-based) approach. The problem is formalized on the basis of Mallet's discrete model (Discrete Smooth Interpolation, DSI). It is shown that the classical [...]
Flooded Rivers, Drying Wetlands, Vanishing Tributaries: Hydrological Paradox of the East Ganga Plains
Published: 2026-08-17
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
The East Ganga Plains (EGP) present a striking hydrological paradox: while embanked rivers flood with increasing magnitude, adjacent wetlands and groundwater-fed streams are desiccating, and aquifer storage is declining. Using satellite remote sensing and gravimetry, we document that: (i) wetlands exhibit significant water-cover loss despite stable monsoon rainfall; (ii) small rivers and [...]
PyRiverShift: A Gaussian Transect Decomposition Framework for Quantifying Sub-Pixel Lateral Channel Mobility
Published: 2026-08-17
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Water Resource Management
Along many rivers, lateral channel mobility is a key process, yet quantification from freely available multi-decadal 30 m Landsat imagery is constrained by low pixel resolution relative to channel width. We introduce PyRiverShift, a sensor-agnostic spectral decomposition framework. PyRiverShift fits a 1-D Gaussian to NDWI profiles along valley-perpendicular transects, recovering sub-pixel channel [...]
A convolutional, scale-adaptive framework for large-scale shoreline change modeling
Published: 2026-08-07
Subjects: Geomorphology
Understanding sandy beach evolution under geologic, hydrodynamic, morphologic, and anthropogenic influences, and particularly future climate variability and sea level rise, has become increasingly important. Several numerical models have been developed to simulate sandy beach evolution, ranging from high-fidelity, process-based models to reduced-complexity approaches, to data-driven and hybrid [...]
Twin indicators of coastal vulnerability: land subsidence and mangrove extent change in Dili, Timor-Leste
Published: 2026-08-06
Subjects: Climate, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Natural Resources and Conservation
Mangrove forests and land subsidence are major drivers of coastal vulnerability rarely quantified together outside the well-studied deltas of Southeast Asia. This study provides the first satellite-based, twin-indicator assessment of coastal vulnerability for Dili, Timor-Leste, combining Sentinel-1 InSAR time series analysis of land subsidence with Global Mangrove Watch extent change over a [...]
River dissolved inorganic carbon losses from the Andes to lowland Amazon via cryptic sedimentary exchange processes
Published: 2026-08-05
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Hydrology
River carbon transfers and associated greenhouse gas emissions are a major component of the carbon cycle. Proposals to use rivers and their catchments to increase carbon dioxide (CO2) drawdown, by enhanced rock weathering and river alkalinity enhancement, require secure delivery of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and increased cation loads (e.g. Ca2+) to the ocean. Here we explore the fate of [...]
Permafrost degradation as a heterogeneous mosaic of tipping and non-tipping behaviour
Published: 2026-08-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences
Permafrost thaw can occur as widespread gradual thaw, or as abrupt thaw. Abrupt thaw can occur on decadal or shorter timescales and produce large, often irreversible changes to landscapes, ecosystems, and infrastructure. These changes are frequently described as tipping points, yet the underlying mechanisms differ substantially in their feedback structure, reversibility, and capacity for [...]
Feedback-Controlled Linear Actuator System to Simulate Laboratory Analogs of Landslides
Published: 2026-07-24
Subjects: Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
This study describes a scientific apparatus that induces granular flow by tilting an acrylic sample container under user-prescribed constant angular velocity and acceleration profiles. The system consists of a transparent sample container mounted within a motorized frame driven by a linear actuator that we control using pulse-width modulation with feed-forward compensation. Additional components [...]
The Tarim Mega Impact Event: A Permian (~290 Ma) Mega-Impact Triggering Global Magmatism, the Artinskian Warming Event, and the Central Asian Arc-LIP Belt
Published: 2026-07-20
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geographic Information Sciences, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
We propose that an oblique mega-impact by a ferronickel asteroid (~180×100×90 km, 22 km/s, incidence angle 24°) that occurred at ~290 Ma in the present-day Tarim Basin can, through the "thin-target penetration" mechanism, attempt to unify within a single physical framework: (1) the Tarim Large Igneous Province (TLIP) flood basalts; (2) the Pamir–Iran–Turkey arcuate mafic–ultramafic magmatic belt; [...]
Fluvial response and recovery after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction revealed through quantitative paleohydrology
Published: 2026-07-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Anthropogenic climate change represents the greatest modern forcing on global river dynamics. Investigating the sensitivity of rivers to past climate in the geological record is thus crucial in understanding future landscapes in a warming world. The Sherwood Sandstone Group, UK, a unit of early-middle Triassic (c. 248-239 Ma) dryland fluvial deposits, records events during and after the [...]