Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Planetary Sciences
Scum of the Earth: a hypothesis for prebiotic multi-compartmentalised environments}
Published: 2021-09-14
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Earth Sciences, Planetary Sciences
Compartmentalisation by bioenergetic membranes is a universal feature of life. The eventual compartmentalisation of prebiotic systems is therefore often argued to comprise a key step during the origin of life. Compartments may have been active participants in prebiotic chemistry, concentrating and spatially organising key reactants. However, most prebiotically plausible compartments are leaky or [...]
A NEW APPROACH TO IDENTIFY ON-GROUND LAMP TYPES FROM NIGHT-TIME ISS IMAGES
Published: 2021-09-12
Subjects: Planetary Sciences
Artificial night-time light (NTL), emitted by various on-ground human activities, becomes further intensive in many regions worldwide. Its adverse effects on humans’ and ecosystems’ health crucially depend on the light spectrum, making the remote discrimination between different lamps a highly important task. However, such studies remain extremely limited, and none of them exploits freely [...]
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 [...]
Kinking facilitates grain nucleation and modifies crystallographic preferred orientations during high-stress ice deformation
Published: 2021-07-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
Kinking can accommodate significant amounts of strain during crystal plastic deformation under relatively large stresses and may influence the mechanical properties of cold planetary cryosphere. To better understand the origins, mechanisms, and microstructural effects of kinking, we present detailed microstructural analyses of coarse-grained ice (~1300 µm) deformed under uniaxial compression at [...]
New systemically measured sand mining budget for the Mekong Delta reveals rising trends and significant volume underestimations
Published: 2021-07-16
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
The river beds of the Mekong Delta are some of the most intensively sand mined places in the world, however sand mining budgets are limited to rough and indirect estimates. Here, we provide a systematic, semi-physically based estimation of the Mekong Delta’s sand mining budget. We provide a quantified budget that overcomes limitations resulting from previous reliance on officially declared [...]
Timing of Martian Core Formation from Models of Hf–W Evolution Coupled with N-body Simulations
Published: 2021-06-04
Subjects: Geochemistry, Mineral Physics, Planetary Sciences
Determining how and when Mars formed has been a long-standing challenge for planetary scientists. The size and orbit of Mars are difficult to reproduce in classical simulations of planetary accretion, and this has inspired models of inner solar system evolution that are tuned to produce Mars-like planets. However, such models are not always coupled to geochemical constraints. Analyses of Martian [...]
Titan's prevailing circulation might drive highly intermittent, yet significant sediment transport
Published: 2021-03-25
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is characterized by gigantic linear dunes and an active dust cycle. Much like on Earth, these aeolian processes are caused by the wind-driven saltation of surface grains. It is still unclear, however, how saltation on Titan can occur despite the typically weak surface winds and the potentially cohesive surface grains. Here, we explore the hypothesis that [...]
Spatial spectrum of temperature fluctuations in buoyancy driven chaotic and turbulent atmosphere
Published: 2021-03-25
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
It is shown, using results of direct numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer, in troposphere, in stratosphere, and the satellite infrared radiances data that in many cases the temperature fluctuations in buoyancy driven chaotic and turbulent atmosphere can be well described by the distributed chaos approach based on the Bolgiano-Obukhov [...]
Lithologic Controls on Silicate Weathering Regimes of Temperate Planets
Published: 2021-03-12
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Sciences
Weathering of silicate rocks at a planetary surface can draw down CO2 from the atmosphere for eventual burial and long-term storage in the planetary interior. This process is thought to provide essential negative feedback to the carbonate-silicate cycle (carbon cycle) to maintain clement climates on Earth and potentially similar temperate exoplanets. We implement thermodynamics to determine [...]
Mars Dichotomy: Prospects for human life on Mars
Published: 2021-03-04
Subjects: Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy, Other Food Science, Planetary Geology, Planetary Sciences
Within the framework of the Mars City State Contest 2020 of The Mars Society, from Colombia, with an interdisciplinary and academic perspective, it was sought to give a perspective of solutions and answers to the challenges of possible human life on Mars. Thus, the document initially addresses a forward-looking prologue, an introduction to the concept of the proposed state, taking as a starting [...]
No cryosphere-confined aquifer below InSight on Mars
Published: 2021-02-24
Subjects: Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Hydrology, Planetary Sciences
The seismometer deployed by the InSight lander measured the seismic velocity of the Martian crust. We use a rock physics model to interpret those velocities and constrain hydrogeological properties. The seismic velocity of the upper ~10 km is too low to be ice-saturated. Hence there is no cryosphere that confines deeper aquifers. An increase in seismic velocity at depths of ~10 km could be [...]
Determination of vulnerability areas from the simulated deposition of atmospheric pollutants using LOTOS-EUROS chemical transport model in North-West South-America
Published: 2021-01-06
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
This work presents the implementation of the LOTOS-EUROS regional atmospheric Chemical Transport Model (CTM) on Northwestern South America. The impact of land use and orography update in the model was analyzed to identify potential vulnerable natural areas by quantifying atmospheric deposition pollutants. CTMs allow simulating the physical dynamics of trace gasses and aerosols, including [...]
The precession constant and its long-term variation
Published: 2020-12-08
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
The dynamical flattening of the Earth, H, related to the precession constant, is a fundamental astro-geodetic parameter that appears in studies of the Earth's rotation and orbital evolution. We present numerical predictions and observations of the variation in H over time scales ranging from tens of millions of years to decades. The geophysical processes controlling this variation include [...]
VESIcal Part I: An open-source thermodynamic model engine for mixed volatile (H2O-CO2) solubility in silicate melts
Published: 2020-12-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Planetary Sciences, Volcanology
Thermodynamics has been fundamental to the interpretation of geologic data and modeling of geologic systems for decades. However, more recent advancements in computational capabilities and a marked increase in researchers’ accessibility to computing tools has outpaced the functionality and extensibility of currently available modeling tools. Here we present VESIcal (Volatile Equilibria and [...]
Evaluating participatory modelling methods for co-creating pathways to sustainability
Published: 2020-11-03
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Planetary Sciences, Systems Engineering
The achievement of global sustainability agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, relies on transformational change across society, economy, and environment that are co-created in a transdisciplinary exercise by all stakeholders. Within this context, environmental and societal change is increasingly understood and represented via participatory modelling for genuine engagement with [...]