Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Stratigraphy
Structural and stratigraphic development of Offshore NW Sulawesi, Indonesia
Published: 2021-02-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
The area of the Offshore NW Sulawesi lies between eastern Sundaland (Borneo) and the North Arm of Sulawesi. Possible influences on the basins include Paleogene rifting in the Celebes Sea and Makassar Strait, Neogene subsidence and uplift in Borneo, late Neogene subduction at the present-day North Sulawesi Trench, and displacements related to the Palu-Koro Fault. This study presents the results of [...]
Numerical modeling of Earth's dynamic surface: a community approach
Published: 2021-02-14
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Stratigraphy
Computational modelling occupies a unique niche in Earth environmental sciences. Models serve not just as scientific technology and infrastructure, but also as digital containers of the scientific community's understanding of the natural world. As this understanding improves, so too must the associated software. This dual nature---models as both infrastructure and hypotheses---means that [...]
Quantitative chemical mapping of plagioclase as a tool for the interpretation of volcanic stratigraphy: an example from Saint Kitts, Lesser Antilles
Published: 2021-02-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Establishing a quantitative link between magmatic processes occurring at depth and volcanic eruption dynamics is essential to forecast the future behaviour of volcanoes, and to correctly interpret monitoring signals at active centres. Chemical zoning in minerals, which captures successive events or states within a magmatic system, can be exploited for such a purpose. However, to develop a [...]
Observational estimates of dynamic topography through space and time
Published: 2021-01-25
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Paleobiology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Earth's mantle undergoes convection on million-year timescales as heat is transferred from depth to the surface. Whilst this flow has long been linked to the large-scale horizontal forces that drive plate tectonics and supercontinent cycles, geologists are increasingly recognising the signature of convection through transient vertical motions in the rock record, known as "dynamic topography". A [...]
Evolution of a sand-rich submarine channel-lobe system and impact of mass-transport and transitional flow deposits on reservoir heterogeneity: Magnus Field, northern North Sea
Published: 2020-12-19
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
The geometry, distribution, and rock properties (i.e. porosity and permeability) of turbidite reservoirs, and the processes associated with turbidity current deposition, are relatively well known. However, less attention has been given to the equivalent properties resulting from laminar sediment gravity-flow deposition, with most research limited to cogenetic turbidite-debrites (i.e. transitional [...]
Chevrons: origin and relevance for the reconstruction of past wind regimes
Published: 2020-12-15
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Meteorology, Other Life Sciences, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Since its first use in the late 80’s, the term chevron has been employed in numerous studies to describe large U- and V-shaped ridges found in or near shorelines worldwide. Most studies have so far focused on Bahamian chevrons that are exclusively of Late Pleistocene age, and on the supposed Holocene chevrons found in S-Madagascar and Australia. In the Bahamas, these deposits have been [...]
Reconstructing the morphologies and hydrodynamics of ancient rivers from source to sink: Cretaceous Western Interior Basin, Utah, USA
Published: 2020-11-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Hydrology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Quantitative reconstruction of palaeohydrology from fluvial stratigraphy provides sophisticated insights into the response, and relative impact, of tectonic and climatic drivers on ancient fluvial landscapes. Here, field measurements and a suite of quantitative approaches are used to develop a four-dimensional (space and time) reconstruction of palaeohydrology in Late Cretaceous palaeorivers of [...]
Architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Coralline Limestone formation, Malta – implications for Eastern Mediterranean restriction prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis
Published: 2020-11-18
Subjects: Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
The Eastern and Western Mediterranean are separated by an elevated plateau that regulates water exchange between these two basins. The Maltese archipelago, situated atop this topographic high, offers a unique window into the evolution of this plateau in the lead up to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). The Upper Coralline Limestone formation was deposited between the late Tortonian and the [...]
Comparison of U-Pb detrital zircon signatures across sediment routing system segments: insights from the late Pleistocene Mississippi River and Deep-sea fan
Published: 2020-07-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
The Pleistocene Mississippi sediment routing system has experienced significant drainage reorganizations in response to Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Geologically recent (<25 ka) and large (~90 km) river avulsions have occurred in the Mississippi’s lower alluvial valley, yet whether these punctuated autogenic phenomena influenced down system records of sedimentary provenance is unknown. We [...]
The Anthropozoic era revisited
Published: 2020-07-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy
This paper explains in some detail the poorly known proposal of Stoppani (1873) regarding the Anthropozoic era, whose beginning was defined by the first traces of human presence on Earth. This author set the stratigraphic bases for the definition of the “human era”, but the proposal had two main weaknesses: the dismissal of biological evolution and the lack of an absolute chronology. Further [...]
“Enriching Lives within Sedimentary Geology”: Actionable Recommendations for Making SEPM a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Society for All Sedimentary Geologists
Published: 2020-07-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Geology, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Innovative science benefits from diversity of thought and influence at all waypoints along the scientific journey, from early education to career-length contributions in research and mentorship. Scientific societies, like the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), steward their innovators and the direction of the science, thereby defining the societal impact and evolution of a discipline. They [...]
Geological Facies Modeling Based on Progressive Growing of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)
Published: 2020-06-22
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Geological facies modeling has long been studied to predict subsurface resources. In recent years, generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been used as a new method for geological facies modeling with surprisingly good results. However, in conventional GANs, all layers are trained concurrently, and the scales of the geological features are not considered. In this study, we propose to train [...]
Tectonic-Sedimentary Interplay of a Multi-Sourced, Structurally-Confined Turbidite System in a Foreland Basin Setting: The Pennsylvanian Lower Atoka Formation, Ouachita Mountains, USA
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Submarine fans deposited in structurally complex settings record important information on basin evolution and tectonic-sedimentary relationships but are often poorly preserved in outcrops due to post-depositional deformation. This study integrates both new field data as well as data compiled from literature to demonstrate the spatial facies variability of the deep-water lower Atoka formation [...]
Architecture and controls of thick, intensely bioturbated, storm-influenced shallow-marine successions: an example from the Jurassic Neuquén Basin (Argentina)
Published: 2020-06-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Thick (>100 m-thick), highly bioturbated storm-influenced shallow-marine deposits are not frequent in the stratigraphic record, but they tend to be unusually common in aggradational to retrogradational successions. Individual storm-event beds have typically low preservation in these successions, yet depositional settings are characterized on the basis of storms processes. We present a [...]
Holocene tephrochronology of Kerguelen Archipelago, Subantarctic Indian Ocean
Published: 2020-05-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Up to now, no geochemical or geochronological data has been published about Holocene volcanic activity on the Kerguelen Archipelago. Here we present the first continuous Holocene chronology of volcanic eruptions on the archipelago. We compared sedimentological, geochronological and geochemical data from two lake sediment cores taken in two different depocenters of Lake Armor, located ca. 70 km [...]