Preprints
There are 7999 Preprints listed.
Assessing the Earthquake Recording Capability of an Ocean-bottom Distributed Acoustic Sensing Array in the Sanriku region, Japan
Published: 2024-03-07
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Sparse seismic instrumentation in the oceans limits our understanding of the Earth’s dynamics. The emerging technology of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which can turn existing fiber-optic cable arrays into thousands of seismic sensors, has the potential to fill the data gap. Yet, the power of OBDAS for routine seismic monitoring has to be further explored. In this study, we investigate the [...]
Tracing Andean Origins: A Machine Learning Framework for Lead Isotopes
Published: 2024-03-19
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This study uses machine learning techniques to facilitate the geolocation of Andean lead isotopes, a novel approach in this geographical context. Two predictive models for latitude and longitude were developed based on the compilation of a database of the lead isotope ratios 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb from multiple Andean provinces. These models were cross-validated using [...]
Evaluating Local Climate Policy: Municipal Action Plans through the Lens of Resilience and Environmental Justice
Published: 2024-03-07
Subjects: Environmental Studies
In the US, local governments are increasingly crucial in driving climate action. Drawing upon Tang et al. (2010) and Baker et al. (2012), this study assesses nine local climate action plans in the state of Michigan. It introduces a comprehensive framework, integrating climate resilience and environmental justice (EJ) indicators to evaluate plan content. Despite recognizing global climate [...]
Plant controls over tropical wetland nitrous oxide dynamics: a review
Published: 2024-03-07
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Tropical wetlands are an important global source of greenhouse gas emissions, including nitrous oxide, a potent and long-last greenhouse gas. Tropical wetland ecosystems can be highly heterogeneous, featuring a variety of vegetation types, from grasses through to palms and mangroves. A variety of plant-mediated processes can exert key controls over wetland plant/soil nitrogen transportation and [...]
Moving graphs: Predicting barchan dune migration rates from their shapes
Published: 2024-03-07
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In this study, geometric perspectives on sand dune formation and motion are summarized, introduced, and combined to predict time-averaged velocities (migration rates) of barchan dunes directly from their shapes. First, it is proposed that smaller sediment accumulations outpace larger ones due to differences in surface-to-volume ratio. This ratio is defined by a bedform’s wavelength and its [...]
Linking local climate scenarios to global warming levels: Applicability, prospects and uncertainties
Published: 2024-03-08
Subjects: Climate, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Global warming levels (GWLs) are increasingly becoming a central concept in climate change studies. In recent years, their integrative quality for climate change impact analysis has been demonstrated, and methodological advancements have helped to compensate for some inherent shortfalls of the concept. However, their applicability at the regional level is debatable, and no study to date has [...]
Spatiotemporal forecast of extreme events in a chaotic dynamical model of slow slip events
Published: 2024-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences
Seismic and aseismic slip events result from episodic slips on faults and are often chaotic due to stress heterogeneity. Their predictability in nature is a widely open question. In this study, we forecast extreme events in a numerical model. The model, which consists of a single fault governed by rate-and-state friction, produces realistic sequences of slow events with a wide range of magnitudes [...]
The long journey of a benzodiazepine
Published: 2024-03-08
Subjects: Other Life Sciences
Medications make up 12-25% of health care’s greenhouse gas emissions production. By utilizing a life cycle analysis approach, this article lays out each step of production and disposal and estimates the global journey of a generic clonazepam pill. Generic clonazepam was selected because it is a commonly prescribed medication and is often linked to deprescribing initiatives due to its [...]
Lunar Crater Detection Using YOLOv8 Deep Learning
Published: 2024-03-09
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In lunar exploration missions, the detection of lunar craters is essential for scientific inquiry, navigation, and terrain analysis. Conventional approaches for identifying craters depend on labor- and time-intensive manual inspection or semi-automated procedures. An effective and precise way to automate this procedure is through the use of deep learning algorithms. In this brief message, we [...]
The Great Oxidation Event (GOE): Biogeochemical Feedback and Tipping Points
Published: 2024-03-09
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Approximately 1.4 Ga after life first appeared, atmospheric O2 suddenly jumped by more than an order of magnitude over a 20-50 Ma period. The contrast between these two timescales does not seem to be due to any sudden, large-amplitude change in external forcing. However, it could be due to processes intrinsic to the geobiological system itself, namely, positive feedback between atmospheric O2 and [...]
Natural sampling and aliasing of marine geochemical signals
Published: 2024-03-09
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
It is well known that the sedimentary rock record is both incomplete and biased. Correlation between geographically distinct records is problematic in the absence of absolute age constraints, which can profoundly affect interpretations of geological and geochemical data. We use a computational process model to create canonical examples of carbonate-siliciclastic stratigraphic cross-sections from [...]
Geospatial Modeling and Mapping of Soil Erosion in India
Published: 2024-03-12
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering
Soil erosion generally removes the topmost fertile layer of soil, affecting agricultural productivity on a larger scale. As a significant portion of the Indian economy depends on agricultural productivity, granular assessment of the impact of soil erosion becomes critical. However, a national-scale assessment of soil erosion and an impact classification system currently doesn’t exist over India. [...]
Turbulence and mixing from neighbouring stratified shear layers
Published: 2024-03-13
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Studies of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) have typically modeled the initial mean flow as an isolated stratified shear layer. However, geophysical flows frequently exhibit multiple layers. As a step towards understanding these flows, we examine the case of two adjacent stratified shear layers {\color{black} using both linear stability analysis and direct numerical simulation}. With [...]
Carbon dioxide migration along faults at the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project revealed using time shift analysis of seismic monitoring data
Published: 2024-03-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Large scale geological storage of CO2 is being deployed worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Previous modelling studies have investigated the potential for CO2 migration along faults. We observe such migration at a commercial-scale, demonstration CO2 storage project, including subsequent emergence of the CO2 into overlying permeable layers. Previous attempts at [...]
Field geology under the sea with a remotely operated vehicle: Mona Rift, Puerto Rico
Published: 2024-03-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences
We implemented concepts of field geology at great ocean depths by constructing virtual outcrops from a string of overlapping video frames collected by remotely operated vehicles (ROV). This lower cost alternative to drilling boreholes allows stratigraphic extension into the offshore and for regional interpretation of marine seismic profiles. The imagery was collected along a dive transect on the [...]