Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geomorphology
Quantifying excess heavy metal concentrations in drainage basins using conservative mixing models
Published: 2022-05-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
High concentrations of heavy metals and other pollutants in river sediments can have detrimental effects on the ecosystem and humans. The composition of river sediments throughout drainage basins therefore provides important information for environmental monitoring. An obvious first step for using river sediment compositions for monitoring is to quantify natural baseline concentrations. Once [...]
The CREp 36Cl exposure age calculator: development version “dev”
Published: 2022-05-04
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Sedimentology, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Chlorine-36 (36Cl) is currently the only in situ cosmogenic nuclide applicable in carbonates, Ca- and K-rich feldspars and aphyric silicate rocks. Because the production reactions of 36Cl are more numerous and complex than those of other cosmogenic nuclides (e.g. 10Be, 3He), comprehensive and user-friendly calculators are essential for routine application of 36Cl to Earth surface research [...]
21st-century stagnation in sand-sea activity
Published: 2022-05-03
Subjects: Climate, Geomorphology
Sand seas are vast expanses of Earth’s surface containing large areas of aeolian dunes—topographic patterns manifest from above-threshold winds and a supply of loose sand. Predictions of the role of future climate change for sand-sea activity are sparse and contradictory. Here we examine the impact of climate on all of Earth’s presently-unvegetated sand seas, using ensemble runs of an Earth [...]
Turbulence structure and the development of secondary outer-bank flow cells at multiple discharges in a meander bend
Published: 2022-04-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology
The erosion of the outer-banks of meander bends is mediated by the form roughness of the bank topography, which has been shown to affect near bank three-dimension flow structures and shear stresses. As the scales of bank roughness is known to vary vertically from bank toe to bank edge variations in flow discharge are likely to driver changes in near-bank flow velocities and turbulent structures [...]
Modeling the size of co-seismic landslides via data-driven models: the Kaikōura's example
Published: 2022-04-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology
The last three decades have witnessed a substantial methodical development of data-driven models for landslide prediction. However, this improvement has been dedicated almost exclusively to models designed to recognize locations where landslides may likely occur in the future. This notion is referred to as landslide susceptibility. However, the susceptibility is just one, albeit fundamental, [...]
Fluid-driven transport of round sediment particles: from discrete simulations to continuum modeling
Published: 2022-04-16
Subjects: Applied Mechanics, Geomorphology, Hydrology
Bedload sediment transport is ubiquitous in shaping natural and engineered landscapes, but the variability in the relation between sediment flux and driving factors is not well understood. At a given Shields number, the observed dimensionless transport rate can vary over a range in controlled systems and up to several orders of magnitude in natural streams. Here we (1) experimentally validate a [...]
Late Glacial and Holocene Palaeolake History of the Última Esperanza Region of Southern Patagonia
Published: 2022-03-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Paleobiology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
We undertook multiproxy analyses on two sediment cores from Lago Pato, a small lake basin at 51°S topographically separated from Lago del Toro in Torres del Paine (TdP), to provide insights into glacier dynamics and lake level change in the TdP and Última Esperanza region over the last ~30,000 cal a BP (30 ka). Lago Pato is situated in a region overridden by the Southern Patagonian Icefield [...]
Coastal River Response to Transgression: A New Look at the Trinity Incised Valley Using Multi-Resolution Seismic Imaging
Published: 2022-03-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Sedimentology
Modern lowland river systems show transitions in flow characteristics near coastlines that lead to systematic changes in sediment deposition and stratigraphic architecture. Sensitivity of fluvial morphodynamics to base-level has important implications for the prediction and interpretation of fluvial stratigraphy, particularly in deposits formed during periods of relative sea-level rise such as [...]
Inverting passive margin stratigraphy for marine sediment transport dynamics over geologic time
Published: 2022-03-09
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Passive margin stratigraphy contains time-integrated records of landscapes that have long since vanished. Quantitatively reading the stratigraphic record using coupled landscape evolution and stratigraphic forward models (SFMs) is a promising approach to extracting information about landscape history. However, there is no consensus about the optimal form of simple SFMs because there has been a [...]
Climate control on the relationship between erosion rate and fluvial topography
Published: 2022-03-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Conceptual and theoretical models for landscape evolution suggest that fluvial topography is sensitive to climate. However, it remains challenging to demonstrate a compelling link between fluvial topography and climate in natural landscapes. One possible reason is that many studies compare erosion rates to climate data, although theoretical studies show that, at steady state, climate is encoded [...]
Fault slip-rates and Coulomb stress interactions in the intersection zone of the Hope, Kelly and Alpine Faults, South Island, New Zealand
Published: 2022-02-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The Hope Fault is a major strike-slip plate boundary fault in the Marlborough Fault Zone of New Zealand’s South Island that transfers slip between the Alpine Fault and Hikurangi subduction zone. We use lidar-based geomorphic and fault mapping, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL; quartz) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL; feldspar) dating of fault-proximal sedimentary deposits to [...]
Timing of the last deglaciation phases in the southern Baltic area inferred from Bayesian age modeling
Published: 2022-02-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology
A new chronology of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet retreat in the southern Baltic basin is proposed. Based on Bayesian age modeling, we show that the most likely ages of particular deglaciation phases are 16.5 ± 0.5 ka for the Gardno Phase, 15.6 ± 0.6 ka for the Słupsk Bank Phase, and 13.9 ± 0.5 ka for the Southern Middle Bank Phase. The Gardno moraines are correlated with the Halland Coastal [...]
Seismic Geomorphology of a Late Cretaceous Turbidite Channel system in Deepwater Kribi/Campo sub-basin, offshore Cameroon
Published: 2022-01-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
In this study, a seismic reflection dataset and well-log data were integrated to investigate the geometry and internal configuration of a turbidite channel system within the Late Cretaceous interval of the deep-water Kribi-Campo sub-basin, offshore Cameroon. This interval is characterized by a well-developed submarine channel system consisting of an early and a late-stage channel. [...]
Quaternary E-W extension uplifts Kythira Island and segments the Hellenic Arc
Published: 2022-01-25
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Several crustal and lithospheric mechanisms lead to deformation and vertical motion of the upper plate during subduction, but their relative contribution is often enigmatic. Multiple areas of the Hellenic Forearc have been uplifting since Plio-Quaternary times, yet spatiotemporal characteristics and sources of this uplift are poorly resolved. The remarkable geology and geomorphology of Kythira [...]
Phanerozoic sedimentary cover history of the Hudson Platform: a heuristic modeling perspective
Published: 2022-01-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Understanding the long-term erosion and burial history of cratons is challenging due to the incompleteness of the rock record. Low-temperature thermochronology is used to elucidate these surface histories by inverting thermochronological data for the time-temperature history and incorporating sparse constraints and other assumptions about the regional geologic evolution. However, imposing certain [...]