Preprints
There are 6976 Preprints listed.
Small-scale capillary heterogeneity linked to rapid plume migration during CO2 storage
Published: 2020-07-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Unpredicted, rapid plume elongation has been observed at subsurface CO2 storage projects worldwide, exemplified by the Sleipner project. We show that conventionally ignored centimetre-metre scale heterogeneity in capillary pressure characteristics can manifest as rapid field-scale, decametre-kilometre, plume migration. We analyse the effect in the Goldeneye Field, UK, a proposed storage site with [...]
Basement-Controlled Deformation of Sedimentary Sequences, Anadarko Shelf, Oklahoma
Published: 2020-07-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Structures rooted in the crystalline basement frequently control the deformation of the host bedrock and the overlying sedimentary sequences. Here, we elucidate the structure of the c. 2‐km deep Precambrian granitic basement in the Anadarko Shelf, Oklahoma, and how the propagation of basement faults deformed the sedimentary cover. Although the basin is foreland in origin, the gently dipping shelf [...]
Crop residues are a key feedstock to bioeconomy but available methods for their estimation are highly uncertain
Published: 2020-07-29
Subjects: Agriculture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
Crop residues are acknowledged as a key biomass resource to feed tomorrow’s sustainable bioeconomy. Yet, the quantification of these residues at large geographical scales is primarily reliant upon generic statistical estimations based on empirical functions linking the residues production to the primary crop yield. These useful yet unquestioned functions are developed either using direct evidence [...]
From XRF and hyperspectral analyses to an automatic way to detect flood events on sediment cores
Published: 2020-07-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Long-term changes in flood activity have often been reconstructed to understand their relationships to climate changes. This requires to identify flood layers according to certain characteristics (e.g. texture, geochemical composition, grain-size) and then to count them using naked-eye observation. This method is, however, time-consuming, and intrinsically characterized by a low resolution that [...]
Framework for consequential life cycle assessment of pyrolysis biorefineries: A case study for the conversion of primary forestry residues
Published: 2020-07-27
Subjects: Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
The development of bioeconomy needs to accelerate in order to get rid of fossil fuels and products. The production of bio-based products and renewable energy sources from the thermochemical conversion of biomass can be a sustainable alternative. Pyrolysis is one of the thermochemical processes that can convert biomass into liquid (bio-oil), solid (biochar) and gaseous (non-condensable gases) [...]
Explaining the dependence of M-site diffusion in forsterite on silica activity: a Density Functional Theory approach
Published: 2020-07-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Experimentally silica activity (aSiO2) has been shown to have an effect on Mg diffusion in forsterite but without any obvious mechanism. We calculated the effects of aSiO2 and aluminium content (the main contaminant in the experimental studies), and their co-effect, on Mg diffusion in forsterite, using thermodynamic minimisations of defect formation energies (calculated using Density Functional [...]
Seasonal impact-based mapping of compound hazards
Published: 2020-06-17
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Mathematics, Multivariate Analysis, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
Impact-based, seasonal mapping of compound hazards is proposed. It is pragmatic, identifies phenomena to drive the research agenda, produces outputs relevant to stakeholders, and could be applied to many hazards globally. Illustratively, flooding and wind damage can co-occur, worsening their joint impact, yet where wet and windy seasons combine has not yet been systematically mapped. Here, [...]
An imbalancing act: the dynamic response of the Kaskawulsh Glacier to a changing mass budget
Published: 2020-08-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Kaskawulsh Glacier is an iconic outlet draining the icefields of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. We determine and attempt to interpret its catchment-wide mass budget since 2007. Using SPOT5/6/7 data we estimate a 2007-2018 geodetic balance of $-$0.46 $\pm$ 0.17 m w.e. a$^{-1}$. By comparing computed balance fluxes with observed ice fluxes at nine flux gates we examine 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 [...]
Observing traveling waves in glaciers with remote sensing: New flexible time series methods and application to Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn Isbræ), Greenland
Published: 2020-07-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The recent influx of remote sensing data provides new opportunities for quantifying spatiotemporal variations in glacier surface velocity and elevation fields. Here, we introduce a flexible time series reconstruction and decomposition technique for forming continuous, time-dependent surface velocity and elevation fields from discontinuous data and partitioning these time series into short- and [...]
Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group Members Survey 2020
Published: 2020-07-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The Volcanic & Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) is a joint Special Interest Group of the Geological Society of London and Mineralogical Society. In January 2020 we conducted an online questionnaire to establish if (and how) VMSG fulfils its mission to serve the volcanology, petrology and geochemistry community. The survey was distributed via the VMSG mailing list, publicised at the VMSG annual [...]
Changes in temperature and rainfall extremes across East Asia in the CMIP5 ensemble
Published: 2020-07-22
Subjects: Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We analyze annual extremes of daily maximum and minimum surface air temperature and of daily rainfall in East Asia and the Korean peninsula. This study made intensive use of the simulation data available from the CMIP5 (Coupled Model intercomparison Project Phase 5) multimodels in historical and future experiments up to year 2100, employing three different radiative forcings: RCP2.6, RCP4.5, [...]
Ancient siderites reveal hot and humid super-greenhouse climate
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ancient siderites reveal hot and humid super-greenhouse climate
Visualizing the daily evolution and extent of snow drought
Published: 2020-07-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Snow droughts are commonly defined as below average snowpack at a point in time, typically 1 April in the western United States. This definition is valuable for interpreting the state of the snowpack for resource management but obscures the temporal evolution of snow drought. Borrowing from dynamical systems theory, we applied phase diagrams to visually examine the evolution of snowpack [...]
Energetic Rupture and Tsunamigenesis during the 2020 Mw 7.4 La Crucecita, Mexico Earthquake
Published: 2020-07-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The La Crucecita earthquake ruptured on the megathrust generating strong shaking and a modest, long-lived tsunami. This is a significant earthquake that illuminates important aspects of the behavior of the megathrust as well as the potential related hazards. The rupture is contained within 15-30km depth, ground motions are elevated and the energy to moment ratio is high. We argue that it [...]