Preprints
There are 7999 Preprints listed.
Quantifying interfacial interactions between kerogen, water, and hydrocarbons across thermal maturity levels and their impact on fluid mobility
Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Engineering
Wettability of organic-rich mudrocks has significant impacts on multiphase fluid flow and hydrocarbon recovery. Since kerogen can constitute a significant volumetric fraction of mudrocks, the wettability of kerogen can considerably affect the wettability of organic-rich mudrocks. In a recent project, we showed using a combination of experimental methods and molecular simulation studies that [...]
Models of Future Food Systems Should Address Transformation Complexity and Uncertainty
Published: 2025-02-08
Subjects: Environmental Studies
Food systems face increasing, multi-dimensional pressures that demand fully integrated assessments of environmental, social, health, nutritional, and economic dimensions to inform their transformation. Food system models traditionally designed for market-driven optimisation and economic efficiency may not be well suited to address these emerging needs, limiting their ability to support decisions [...]
Glacially enhanced silicate weathering revealed by Holocene lake records
Published: 2025-02-08
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
How glaciation affects CO2 drawdown by chemical weathering sets the strength of the weathering-climate feedback, which controls the exogenic carbon cycle and planetary habitability (Kump et al., 2000). However, the exact role of glaciers remains elusive as glaciation alters multiple factors controlling weathering, the net effect of which is ambiguous even in directionality. While illustrative, [...]
Rewetting drained boreal peatland forests does not mitigate climate warming in the 21st century
Published: 2025-02-08
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biogeochemistry, Forest Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Sustainability
Rewetting of drained peatland forests restores ecosystem functions and improves peatland ecological status. It is also considered to mitigate climate change, yet some studies challenge this view Recently, Laine et al. (2024, Restoration Ecology, 32(7), p.e14213) considered feasible restoration outcomes of boreal forestry drained peatlands and proposed that rewetting nutrient-rich peatland forests [...]
Climate Extremes at the City–River Interface: Insights from the Philadelphia-Schuylkill System
Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Climate, Environmental Monitoring, Hydrology
Hurricane Ida struck the U.S. East Coast in August 2021, pushing the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia to a record discharge nearly 100 times larger than its average flow. As one of the most severe disasters of the 21st century, Ida exemplifies the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme hydrometeorological events under climate change. Predicting urban flood pathways remains challenging due [...]
Evaluating coastal multifunctionality: sand nourishment strategies at decadal timescales
Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment
Globally, there is a growing societal need for multifunctional coastal climate adaptation of sandy shores in the coming decades. Sand nourishment strategies are increasingly regarded as promising nature-based approaches to adaptation. They may increase flood safety and mitigate coastal erosion while enhancing recreational and ecological functioning. However, their multifunctional potential has [...]
Inclusive Qualifying Exams Toolkit
Published: 2025-02-08
Subjects: Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Doctoral qualifying or comprehensive exams are widely used in the earth and space sciences, yet research on assessment pervasively demonstrates that high-stakes exams are heavily biased and poor predictors of success. To address these issues and work towards broadening participation in these fields, this toolkit presents related-research and strategies for academic units looking to update their [...]
The Role of Quaternary Spatiotemporal Gradients and Dynamic Disequilibrium in Shaping Present Neotropical Biotic Patterns
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Paleontology
No abstract available
Formation of Mg-silicates in the microbial sediments of a saline, mildly alkaline coastal lake (Lake Clifton, Australia): environmental versus microbiological drivers
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Education
Recent interest in Mg-rich silicate formation stems from their role as valuable paleoclimatic indicators in fluvio-lacustrine environments and their insights into metal geochemical cycling. Traditionally, Mg-silicate genesis in lacustrine contexts is linked to alkaline or saline conditions in closed, evaporitic basins. However, the discovery of interparticle amorphous kerolite-like Mg-silicates [...]
Methodological Advances in Volcanology: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Volcano Monitoring, Modelling, and Hazard Assessment
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Volcanology
This chapter explores the opportunities and challenges of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in volcanology. It starts by introducing the basic concepts of AI and ML. Then, it discusses the current and potential applications of AI and ML in volcanology, including recent advances in petrology, geophysics, remote sensing, and ground monitoring. We highlight that AI and ML [...]
Mid-crustal strain localisation triggered by localised fluid influx and activation of dissolution-precipitation creep
Published: 2025-02-12
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Understanding mid-crustal deformation is vital for determining the spatial and temporal distribution of strain localisation, with implications for upper-crust deformation including seismic hazard. Here, we conduct fieldwork and microstructural and minerochemical analyses on the amphibolite-facies, 100-m-wide Upper Badcall shear zone in northwest Scotland, which deforms initially anhydrous [...]
Investigating the recommendations and governmental actions to address the emerging risks of vector-borne diseases in Canada’s changing climate: A scoping review
Published: 2024-12-04
Subjects: Public Health
Climate change is expected to increase the risks associated with vector-borne diseases, and its implications for human health are already observed across Canada. The objective of this review was to investigate the recommended adaptation strategies related to the risks associated with vector-borne diseases and examine how various levels of government in Canada are executing these recommended [...]
Positive isotropic components of the 2025 Santorini-Amorgos earthquakes
Published: 2025-02-21
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We used full waveforms of the Hellenic Unified Seismic Network (HUSN) regional stations and a frequency range of 0.03-0.06 Hz. We calculated full moment tensors (MTs) and focused on their ISO and CLVD components. In the tested depth range of 1-20 km, the medians of ISO (=VOL) and CLVD are positive, but their 68% confidence intervals are broad due to the tradeoff of the non-DC with depth. When [...]
Managing Smoke Risk from Wildland Fires: Northern California as a Case Study
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Smoke fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from increasing wildfires in the western United States threatens public health. While land managers often prioritize reducing wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface, the impact on regional air quality from mitigating wildfire spread is less explored. We develop a framework to quantify wildfire contributions to smoke exposure and assess targeted land [...]
A Systems-Level Approach to Extracting Oxygen from Lunar Regolith via Molten Regolith Electrolysis
Published: 2025-02-12
Subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Engineering, Other Planetary Sciences, Planetary Sciences
We present a top-level architecture for extracting up to 10 metric tonnes per year of oxygen from lunar regolith by means of Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE) using less than 30 kW from vertical solar arrays and a regolith excavator. This System Integration Study identifies specific technology which could be engineered together in the near term into a single system and lander provided focused [...]