Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Sedimentology
The Influence of Grain Shape and Size on the Relationship Between Porosity and Permeability in Sandstone
Published: 2021-11-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
An accurate and reliable description of the relationship between porosity and permeability in geological materials is valuable in understanding subsurface fluid movement. This is of great importance for studies of reservoir characterisation, useful for energy exploitation, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) and groundwater contamination and remediation. Whilst the relationship between pore [...]
Nonlinear time series analysis of palaeoclimate proxy records
Published: 2021-11-08
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Climate, Dynamic Systems, Earth Sciences, Geology, Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series, Multivariate Analysis, Non-linear Dynamics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Identifying and characterising dynamical regime shifts, critical transitions or potential tipping points in palaeoclimate time series is relevant for improving the understanding of often highly nonlinear Earth system dynamics. Beyond linear changes in time series properties such as mean, variance, or trend, these nonlinear regime shifts can manifest as changes in signal predictability, [...]
Reproducibility in subsurface geoscience
Published: 2021-10-26
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 [...]
Sharp-based, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shallow-marine deposits (upper Miocene, Betic Cordillera, Spain): the record of ancient transgressive shelf ridges?
Published: 2021-10-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Isolated sharp-based sedimentary bodies in shelf settings can develop via the reworking of regressive deposits during transgressions. An example of these are shelf ridges, formed under a wide range of processes, and widely studied due to their high reservoir potential. However, there is still a lack of examples in mixed (carbonate-siliciclastic) successions. This study presents an outcrop example [...]
The role of mass-transport complexes (MTCs) in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons
Published: 2021-10-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Sedimentology
The offshore area of the Otway Basin (SE Australia) is dominated by a multibranched canyon system where mass-transport complexes (MTCs) are widely distributed. Our study integrates high-resolution multibeam and seismic data to investigate the importance of MTCs in dictating the evolution of canyons. Our study interprets three regionally distributed MTCs that fail retrogressively and affect almost [...]
Sedimentary response to current and nutrient regime rearrangement in the Eastern Mediterranean Realm during the early to middle Miocene (southwestern Cyprus)
Published: 2021-10-12
Subjects: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
During the early and middle Miocene, the Mediterranean had become a restricted marginal marine sea with diminishing and ultimate loss of connectivity to the Indian Ocean. This dramatically changed the heat, energy, freshwater and nutrient budgets across the Mediterranean and most notably in its eastern basin. While one of the most prominent lines of evidence of this change in the Eastern [...]
Seismic and Acoustic Monitoring of Submarine Landslides: Ongoing Challenges, Recent Successes and Future Opportunities
Published: 2021-10-04
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Oceanography, Sedimentology
Submarine landslides pose a hazard to coastal communities due to the tsunamis they can generate, and can damage critical seafloor infrastructure, such as the network of cables that underpin global data transfer and communications. These mass movements can be orders of magnitude larger than their onshore equivalents and are found on all of the world’s continental margins; from coastal zones to [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
Early Pliocene Marine Transgression into the Lower Colorado River Valley, Southwestern USA, by Re-Flooding of a Former Tidal Strait
Published: 2021-09-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Marine straits and seaways are known to host a wide range of sedimentary processes and products, but the role of marine connections in the development of large river systems remains little studied. This study explores a hypothesis that shallow marine waters flooded the lower Colorado River valley at ~ 5 Ma along a fault-controlled former tidal straight, soon after the river was first integrated [...]
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 [...]
Predicting bottom current deposition and erosion on the ocean floor
Published: 2021-07-28
Subjects: Sedimentology
Mapping sediment deposition and erosion by thermohaline ocean bottom currents is important for the development of ocean infrastructure, future geo resources and understanding the sedimentology of contourites and abyssal dunefields. However, only a limited percentage (estimated 20%) of the ocean floor has been mapped directly through seismic or sonar imaging. To better delineate where zones of [...]
Fluvial sedimentation and its reservoir potential at foreland basin margins: A case study of the Puig-reig anticline (South-eastern Pyrenees)
Published: 2021-07-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Fluvial fans represent one of the dominant sedimentary systems at the active margins of non-marine foreland basins. The Puig-reig anticline at the north-eastern margin of the Ebro Foreland Basin (SE Pyrenees, Spain) exposes continuous outcrops of late Eocene-early Oligocene fluvial deposits, from proximal to medial fluvial fan environments. The proximal deposits, located in the northern limb of [...]
Sandstone body character, river styles, and geomorphology of the lower Eocene Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA
Published: 2021-07-18
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology
The lower Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA, is an alluvial succession with a sand content varying around 25%. It has been studied intensively for palaeontology, palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates, as well as sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis. Channel dynamics were studied at a relatively low resolution throughout the basin over the geological time from [...]
Stylolites and stylolite networks as primary controls on the geometry and distribution of carbonate diagenetic alterations
Published: 2021-07-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
There is an ongoing debate on whether stylolites act as barriers or conduits for fluids, or even play no role in terms of fluid transport. This problem can be tackled by examining the spatial and temporal relationships between stylolites and other diagenetic products at multiple scales. Using the well-known Lower Cretaceous Benicàssim case study (Maestrat Basin, E Spain), we provide new field and [...]