Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Sedimentology
Transgression–regression cycles drive correlations in Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records
Published: 2023-11-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy
Strata of the Ediacaran Period (635–538.8 Ma) yield the oldest known fossils of complex, macroscopic organisms in the geologic record. These “Ediacaran-type” macrofossils (known as the Ediacaran biota) first appear in mid-Ediacaran strata, experience an apparent decline through the terminal Ediacaran, and directly precede the Cambrian (538.8–485.4 Ma) radiation of animals. Existing hypotheses for [...]
Fluvial reworking eliminates small craters, but does not meaningfully bias the Mars interbedded-crater record
Published: 2023-10-31
Subjects: Geomorphology, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Sedimentology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Interpreting structures, morphology, and chemistry of the exposed stratigraphic record on Mars is complicated by ancient surface processes that variably removed parts of the record. Previous research has used the lack of smaller craters (<50 m diameter) interbedded with fluvial deposits to constrain atmospheric pressure when rivers were active on Mars; the notion being that higher atmospheric [...]
Sediment supply controls on Early Eocene delta sequences (South Pyrenean Foreland Basin; Spain)
Published: 2023-10-13
Subjects: Climate, Geochemistry, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Sediment supply variations are often overlooked when interpreting depositional sequences, which tend to emphasize changes in accommodation. Here, we focus on a temporally well-constrained shallow-marine succession in the South Pyrenean Foreland Basin to test the control of sediment supply on the development of deltaic sequences during the Early Eocene. We analyzed the paleoenvironmental record [...]
Complementary classifications of aeolian dunes based on morphology, dynamics, and fluid mechanics
Published: 2023-10-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Fluid Dynamics, Geomorphology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Sciences, Sedimentology
Dunes form where winds blow over a bed of mobile sediment grains – conditions that are common in our solar system. On Earth, dunes abound in arid continental interiors and along sandy coastlines. Dune fields have also been recognized on other planetary bodies, including Venus, Mars, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Pluto. Despite the relatively basic conditions required for their formation, dunes adopt a [...]
Spontaneous Unsteadiness and Sorting in Pyroclastic Density Currents and their Deposits
Published: 2023-08-22
Subjects: Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) pose substantial risk to populations living on and around active volcanoes, but their structure and internal dynamics are poorly understood. Much of this understanding is derived from interpretation of their widespread deposits. Scaled experiments are able to probe different conditions, to explore how changing flow dynamics relate to the wide variety of [...]
Application of the authigenic 10Be/9Be dating to constrain the age of a long-lived lake and its regression in an isolated intermontane basin: The case of Late Miocene Lake Turiec, Western Carpathians
Published: 2023-07-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
The depositional record of intermontane basins provides a valuable archive of the temporal evolution of orogenic belts; their common isolated nature may, however, hinder the efficient usage of standard approaches to constrain the age of a basin fill. In this paper the authigenic 10Be/9Be dating method is employed and tested to construct an age model of the existence and regression of Lake Turiec, [...]
Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of shallow-marine, coarse-grained siliciclastic deposits in the southern Utsira High: the Late Jurassic intra-Draupne Formation sandstones in the Johan Sverdrup Field (Norwegian North Sea).
Published: 2023-06-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Thin, condensed coarse-grained shallow-marine successions can be difficult to describe and interpret, especially in the subsurface because they commonly lack finer grained intervals which are typically associated with sequence stratigraphic surfaces. This lack of mudstones and siltstones means that they also typically make excellent reservoir intervals. The Oxfordian to Volgian intra-Draupne [...]
Seismic Stratigraphy of Contourite Drift Deposits Associated with the Loop Current on the Eastern Campeche Bank, Gulf of Mexico
Published: 2023-06-08
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Oceanography, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
The Loop Current is a key component of global circulation via the northward transport of warm, salty water and an important influence on Gulf of Mexico hydrography. Understanding how the Loop Current will respond to ongoing anthropogenic warming is critically important, but the history of the Loop Current is poorly known. Here, we present the results of a high resolution (3-8 m) multichannel [...]
Macroplastic fragmentation in rivers
Published: 2023-05-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Sedimentology
The process of macroplastic (>0.5 cm) fragmentation results in the production of smaller plastic particles (micro- and nanoplastics), which threaten biota and human health and are difficult to remove from the environment. The global coverage and long retention times of macroplastic waste in fluvial systems (ranging from years to centuries) create long-lasting and widespread potential for its [...]
Salt‑rich versus salt‑poor structural scenarios in the central Northern Calcareous Alps: implications for the Hallstatt facies and early Alpine tectonic evolution (Eastern Alps, Austria)
Published: 2023-05-25
Subjects: Other Earth Sciences, Sedimentology, Tectonics and Structure
One of the most remarkable features of the central Northern Calcareous Alps (Eastern Alps, Austria) is the widespread presence of Upper Triassic deep-water carbonates (the Hallstatt facies) and Permo-Triassic evaporites resting on deep-water Middle Jurassic strata and their underlying Upper Triassic shallow-water carbonate platform successions. The Hallstatt facies and accompanying evaporites [...]
In-situ frictional behavior of subducting sediment in the shallow Nankai Trough
Published: 2023-04-22
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Sedimentology, Tectonics and Structure
The transition from smectite to illite at around the depth with temperature of ~150 °C has long been hypothesized as one of controlling factors of the updip limit depth of the seismogenic zone of subduction zones. Although illite has a higher friction coefficient than smectite, previous friction experiments have little reported that the smectite-illite transition accompanies the transition from [...]
Complex seabed geomorphology shaped by various oceanographic processes: a case study from the Gippsland Basin, offshore south-eastern Australia
Published: 2023-04-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology
The Gippsland Basin is located in the southeastern continental margin of Australia and hosts a variety of important marine resources. Recent high-resolution seabed mapping reveals that seabed morphology is extremely complex in different regions of the Gippsland Basin (i.e. northern, central and southern regions), ranging from scarps, cyclic step trains, channels, canyons, gullies, and giant [...]
Features of crevasse splay deposits and sedimentary processes associated with levee breaching by the October 2019 flood of the Chikuma River, Central Japan
Published: 2023-03-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Sedimentology
Field investigations and analyses of modern crevasse splay deposits can both elucidate the processes of levee breaching and help to identify past crevasse splay deposits from geologic strata, thereby estimating the magnitudes of ancient river floods. In this study, we studied levee breach processes and crevasse splay deposits in order to determine the distribution characteristics of the [...]
Stationary surface waves and antidunes in dense pyroclastic density currents
Published: 2023-03-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Sedimentology, Volcanology
Stationary antidunes are a product of critical flow in open channel systems, but with poor preservation potential. They are related to the existence of stationary surface waves in the overriding current, but their existence in the dense pyroclastic density current regime has been unrecognized to date. Experiments presented here demonstrate that surface waves in simulated dense pyroclastic density [...]
Structure and Morphology of an Active Conjugate Relay Zone, Messina Strait, Southern Italy
Published: 2023-03-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Messina Strait is a narrow fault-bounded marine basin that separates the Calabrian peninsula from Sicily in southern Italy. It sits in a seismically active region where normal fault scarps and raised Quaternary marine terraces record ongoing extension driven by southeastward rollback of the Calabrian subduction zone. A review of published studies and new data shows that normal faults in the [...]