Preprints
There are 4725 Preprints listed.
A systematic approach and software for the analysis of point patterns on river networks
Published: 2020-06-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Many geomorphic phenomena such as bank failures, landslide dams, riffle-pool sequences and knickpoints can be modelled as spatial point processes. However, as the locations of these phenomena are constrained to lie on or alongside rivers, their analysis must account for the geometry and topology of river networks. Here, we introduce a new numeric class in TopoToolbox called Point Pattern on [...]
COVID-19 Pandemic – Possible implications and effects of monsoons in the Indian sub-continent.
Published: 2020-06-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The world is facing an unprecedented time owing to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. The research community is racing to find a solution to contain the outbreak, leading to the proposals of many possible routes of the virus transmission and its dynamics. The Indian sub-continent is about to experience the monsoon season, which often leads to heavy rainfall and flooding in the region, affecting the [...]
Heat does not physically flow in the ways assumed by greenhouse-warming theory
Published: 2020-06-06
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Heat is currently defined as an amount of thermal energy flowing each second per unit area. Temperature is assumed to result from the net amount of heat flowing—the sum of all radiative forcings. Yet direct and unambiguous observations of Nature show that macroscopic temperature of solid matter results from a very broad spectrum of sub-microscopic oscillations of all the bonds holding matter [...]
Strain migration during multiphase extension, Stord Basin, northern North Sea rift
Published: 2020-06-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In multirifted regions, rift-related strain varies along and across the basin during and between each extensional event, and the location of maximum extension often differs between rift phases. Despite having a general understanding of multiphase rift kinematics, it remains unclear why some parts of the rift are abandoned, with strain accumulating in previously less deformed areas, and how [...]
Antarctic elevation drives hemispheric asymmetry in polar lapse-rate climatology and feedback
Published: 2020-06-06
Subjects: Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The lapse-rate feedback is the dominant driver of stronger warming in the Arctic than the Antarctic in simulations with increased CO2. While Antarctic surface elevation has been implicated in promoting a weaker Antarctic lapse-rate feedback, the mechanisms in which elevation impacts the lapse-rate feedback are still unclear. Here we suggest that weaker Antarctic warming under CO2 forcing stems [...]
Carbon fractions in the world’s dead wood
Published: 2020-06-05
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Alarming increases in tree mortality due to environmental change suggest that contributions of dead wood to global carbon (C) cycles are rapidly increasing 1-3, with dead wood C flux estimates already approximating total annual anthropogenic C emissions 4. Quantifying C in dead wood critically depends on accurate estimates of dead wood C fractions (CFs) to convert dead woody biomass into C. Most [...]
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 [...]
Mechanical Response of Shallow Crust to Groundwater Storage Variations: Inferences from Deformation and Seismic Observations in the Eastern Southern Alps, Italy
Published: 2020-06-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Changes in continental water storage generate vertical surface deformation, induce crustal stress perturbations and modulate seismicity rates. However, the degree to which regional changes in terrestrial water content influence crustal stresses and the occurrence of earthquakes remains an open problem. We show how changes in groundwater storage, computed for a ~1000 km^2 basin, focus deformation [...]
A novel rules-based shoreface translation model for predicting future coastal change: ShoreTrans
Published: 2020-06-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geomorphology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Predicting change to global shorelines presents an increasing challenge as sea-level rise (SLR) accelerates. Many shoreline prediction models use variations of the ‘Bruun-rule’, failing to account for relevant processes and morphologic complexity. To address this, we introduce a simple rules-based model (ShoreTrans) designed for complex, real-world profiles that predicts change across a wide [...]
The New Era of Regional Coastal Bathymetry from Space: A Showcase for West Africa using Sentinel-2 Imagery
Published: 2020-06-04
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Large-scale coastal bathymetry is an essential data product for use in coastal research and governance. Traditional methods of measuring bathymetry, using sonar deployed from ships, take an enormous amount of time to collect and process, and thus prevent the gathering of data at high spatial and temporal resolution at a regional scale. Space-borne missions, such as the European Space Agencys [...]
Eruptive dynamics in Plinian silicic eruptions
Published: 2020-06-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Plinian eruptions are characterized by high magma discharge rates and pyroclastic material containing extraordinary large numbers of bubbles. Upon ascent to the surface magma decompresses and volatiles become supersaturated, causing bubbles to nucleate with a rate dependent on the degree of supersaturation. Thus, the conventional view is that the number of bubbles nucleating within the erupting [...]
Atmospheric thermal convection and strong chaotic fluctuations of global temperature on Earth and on Mars
Published: 2020-06-04
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
It is shown that the atmospheric thermal (buoyancy driven) convection plays the main role in generation of the strong chaotic fluctuations of the global temperature through the Kolmogorov-Bolgiano-Obukhov mechanism (in the frames of the distributed chaos approach). It is valid for the planets with substantial atmosphere such as the Earth and Mars. Direct numerical simulations, the Berkeley Earth [...]
Laboratory experiments and grain based discrete element numerical simulations investigating the thermo-mechanical behaviour of sandstone
Published: 2020-05-29
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Thermo-mechanical loading can occur in numerous engineering geological environments, from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Different minerals and micro-defects in rock cause heterogeneity at a grain scale, affecting the mechanical and thermal properties of the material. Changes in strength and stiffness can occur from exposure to elevated temperatures, with the accumulation of localised [...]
Normal fault kinematics and the role of lateral tip retreat: An example from offshore NW Australia
Published: 2020-05-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Understanding how normal faults grow is key to determining the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of rifts, and the distribution and size of potentially hazardous earthquakes. According to recent studies, normal faults tend to grow in two temporally distinct stages: a lengthening stage, followed by a throw/displacement accumulation stage. However, this model is still debated and not widely supported [...]
Breakup Without Borders: How Continents Speed Up and Slow Down During Rifting
Published: 2020-05-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Relative plate motions during continental rifting result from the interplay of local with far-field forces. Here, we study the dynamics of rifting and breakup using large-scale numerical simulations of mantle convection with self-consistent evolution of plate boundaries. We show that continental separation follows a characteristic evolution with four distinctive phases: (1) An initial slow [...]