This study explores the effect of cation adsorption on the shear strength and mineralogical characteristics of smectite-rich landslide clay collected from the Nishinotani landslide in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Laboratory experiments were conducted using aqueous solutions of calcium, magnesium, and potassium chlorides at concentrations of 1000, 6000, and 12,000 mg/L. Ion chromatography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and ring shear tests were conducted to evaluate the interaction between ion uptake and its influence on the change in shear strength. The results showed that calcium and potassium ion adsorption increased with both concentration and time, leading to enhanced residual shear strength and crystallinity, primarily due to stronger Coulombic interactions and favorable ionic size compatibility with smectite. Conversely, magnesium ions exhibited adverse effects, including reduced strength and mineral ordering, attributed to calcium leaching and weaker interparticle bonding. The findings indicate that selective cation exchange can be an effective, sustainable alternative to conventional landslide stabilization methods, especially in fine-grained, expansive clay systems. This work contributes to the development of geochemically engineered landslide mitigation strategies based on microstructural and mineralogical reinforcement.
John Paul O'Donnell, Kate Selway, Claire Wade
et al.
We used teleseismic Rayleigh waves recorded by three recent broadband seismic arrays in southern Australia to develop a shear wave velocity model of the South Australian Craton from the lower crust to 250 km depth and compare this with isotope data, xenolith data, and 3D mantle resistivity structure. At ~75–150 km depth, the seismic expression of cratonic core lithosphere encompasses the eastern Gawler Craton, Curnamona Province, and intervening Adelaide Superbasin north of ~33°S. The inference of contiguous cratonic lithospheric mantle between the Gawler Craton and Curnamona Province may have implications for models of Rodinia breakup. Cratonic core lithospheric mantle is modelled as terminating substantially inboard of the conventionally-defined western margin of the Gawler Craton, but extending southward and northeastward beyond the conventionally-defined Curnamona Province boundary. Geophysical signatures of cratonic core lithospheric mantle are absent under the southern Eyre Peninsula, possibly related to the Jurassic–Cretaceous separation of Australia and Antarctica. At depths >150 km, the deep cratonic keel is restricted to the eastern Gawler Craton and southern Curnamona Province. Major iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits of the eastern Gawler Craton (e.g., Olympic Dam) and Curnamona Province reside above the seismically fastest lithospheric mantle in the region. This seismic signature might provide a useful precompetitive vector for IOCG prospectivity mapping.
Kevin Kwong, Brendan Crowell, Amy Williamson
et al.
Tsunamigenic megathrust earthquakes along the Cascadia subduction zone present a major hazard concern. We can better prepare to model the earthquake source in a rapid manner by imbuing fault geometry constraints based on prior knowledge and by evaluating the capabilities of using existing GNSS sensors. Near-field GNSS waveforms have shown promise in providing rapid coarse finite-fault model approximations of the earthquake rupture that can improve tsunami modeling and response time. In this study, we explore the performance of GNSS derived finite-fault inversions and tsunami forecasting predictions in Cascadia that highlights the impact and potential of geodetic techniques and data in operational earthquake and tsunami monitoring. We utilized 1300 Cascadia earthquake simulations (FakeQuakes) that provide realistic (M7.5-9.3) rupture scenarios to assess how feasibly finite-fault models can be obtained in a rapid earthquake early warning and tsunami response context. A series of fault models with rectangular dislocation patches spanning the Cascadia megathrust area is added to the GFAST inversion algorithm to calculate slip for each earthquake scenario. Another method used to constrain the finite-fault geometry is from the GNSS-derived CMT fault plane solution. For the Cascadia region, we show that fault discretization using two rectangular segments approximating the megathrust portion of the subduction zone leads to improvements in modeling magnitude, fault slip, tsunami amplitude, and inundation. In relation to tsunami forecasting capabilities, we compare coastal amplitude predictions spanning from Vancouver Island (Canada) to Northern California (USA). Generally, the coastal amplitudes derived using fault parameters from the CMT solutions show an overestimation bias compared to amplitudes derived from the fixed slab model. We also see improved prediction values of the run-up height and maximum amplitude at 10 tide gauge stations using the fixed slab model as well.
José Cunha Teixeira, Ludovic Bodet, Marine Dangeard
et al.
To effectively address engineering challenges and risks, it is crucial to characterize mechanical properties of near-surface environments. The Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) has proven to be a valuable active seismic imaging technique by providing near-surface shear (S)-wave velocities estimations. However, its application to urban areas requires further development. This study leverages well-constrained experimental sites to assess the viability of a passive-MASW technique, utilizing seismic waves induced by high-speed train traffic instead of conventional active sources. We suggest employing short 96-geophone uniform linear arrays to capture surface waves in a broad frequency band (10-200 Hz). Train passages are automatically detected and categorized regarding to the train travel direction. Seismic interferometry and phase-weighted stack techniques are applied to generate virtual shot-gathers that are transformed into high-resolution multi-modal dispersion images. Our results demonstrate a strong coherence between the picked dispersion curves from the passive-MASW approach and those obtained through traditional active MASW with a hammer source. We discuss the validity of higher modes and explore array density limits to ensure reliable results. Our findings highlight that seismic interferometry, coupled with a high phase-weighted stack power, effectively recovers energy at high frequencies, enhancing the characterization of multi-modal surface-wave dispersion associated with thin near-surface layers.
<p>Decadal predictions can skilfully forecast upper-ocean temperatures in many regions worldwide. The North Atlantic, in particular, shows high predictive skill for the ocean heat content (OHC). This multi-model study analyses eight CMIP6 climate models with comparable decadal prediction (Decadal Climate Prediction Project, DCPP) and historical (HIST) ensembles to document differences in North Atlantic (NA) upper-OHC skill and investigates the underlying causes. The decadal predictions consistently identify two main regions with high predictive capacity and added value of initialization: the Labrador Sea (LS) and the eastern North Atlantic. A region east of the Grand Banks (EGB) is also found to exhibit negative skill scores, with its extent and location varying widely across models, possibly due in part to observational uncertainties affecting both forecast verification and local initialization.</p>
<p>Special attention is given to the Labrador Sea and its surroundings, a region characterized by high inter-model spread in OHC prediction skill in both DCPP and HIST experiments. These differences hinder the identification of the relative contributions of external forcings and internal variability to local OHC predictability. To address this, we explore the relationship between the local OHC skill in the HIST ensemble and various mean-state properties in the Labrador Sea, revealing a strong link between the skill in those experiments and both the mean local surface fluxes and density stratification.</p>
<p>Benchmarking these mean-state properties against observations and reanalyses suggests that the multi-model mean likely offers the most realistic estimate of the forced signal, accounting for approximately 16 % of the total OHC variance in the Labrador Sea. These findings underscore the critical role of stratification and atmospheric forcing biases in shaping predictive skill and highlight the potential of multi-model ensembles to advance our understanding of decadal predictability.</p>
Anna Ledeczi, Madeleine Lucas, Harold Tobin
et al.
Because splay faults branch at a steep dip angle from the plate-boundary décollement in an accretionary wedge, their coseismic displacement can potentially result in larger tsunamis with distinct characteristics compared to megathrust-only fault ruptures, posing an enhanced hazard to coastal communities. Elsewhere, there is evidence of coseismic slip on splay faults during many of the largest subduction zone earthquakes, but our understanding of potentially active splay faults and their hazards at the Cascadia subduction zone remains limited. To identify the most recently active splay faults at Cascadia, we conduct stratigraphic and structural interpretations of near-surface deformation in the outer accretionary wedge for the ~400 km along-strike length of the landward vergence zone. We analyze recently acquired high-frequency sparker seismic data and crustal-scale multi-channel seismic data to examine the record of deformation in shallow slope basins and the upper ~1 km of the surrounding accreted sediments and to investigate linkages to deeper décollement structure. We present a new fault map for widest, most completely locked portion of Cascadia from 45 to 48°N latitude, which documents the distribution of faults that show clear evidence of recent late Quaternary activity. We find widespread evidence for active splay faulting up to 30 km landward of the deformation front, in what we define as the active domain, and diminished fault activity landward outside of this zone. The abundance of surface-deforming splay faults in the active outer wedge domain suggests Cascadia megathrust events may commonly host distributed shallow rupture on multiple splay faults located within 30 km of the deformation front.
<p>This paper examines teleconnections between the Arctic and the Baltic Sea region and is based on two cases of Community Earth System Model version 1 large ensemble (CESM-LE) climate model simulations: the stationary case with pre-industrial radiative forcing and the climate change case with RCP8.5 radiative forcing.</p>
<p>The stationary control simulation's 1800-year long time series were used for stationary teleconnection and a 40-member ensemble from the period 1920–2100 is used for teleconnections during ongoing climate change. We analyzed seasonal temperature at a 2 m level, sea-level pressure, sea ice concentration, precipitation, geopotential height, and 10 m level wind speed. The Arctic was divided into seven areas.</p>
<p>The Baltic Sea region climate has strong teleconnections with the Arctic climate; the strongest connections are with Svalbard and Greenland region. There is high seasonality in the teleconnections, with the strongest correlations in winter and the lowest correlations in summer, when the local meteorological factors are stronger. North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) climate indices can explain most teleconnections in winter and spring. During ongoing climate change, the teleconnection patterns did not show remarkable changes by the end of the 21st century. Minor pattern changes are between the Baltic Sea region temperature and the sea ice concentration.</p>
<p>We calculated the correlation between the parameter and its ridge regression estimation to estimate different Arctic regions' collective statistical connections with the Baltic Sea region. The seasonal coefficient of determination, <span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i><sup>2</sup></span>, was highest for winter: for <span class="inline-formula"><i>T</i><sub>2 m</sub></span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.64</span>; for sea level pressure (SLP), <span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.44</span>; and for precipitation (PREC), <span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.35</span>. When doing the same for the seasons' previous month values in the Arctic, the relations are considerably weaker, with the highest <span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i><sup>2</sup>=0.09</span> being for temperature in the spring. Hence, Arctic climate data forecasting capacity for the Baltic Sea region is weak.</p>
<p>Although there are statistically significant teleconnections between the Arctic and Baltic Sea region, the Arctic impacts are regional and mostly connected with climate indexes. There are no simple cause-and-effect pathways. By the end of the 21st century, the Arctic ice concentration has significantly decreased. Still, the general teleconnection patterns between the Arctic and the Baltic Sea region will not change considerably by the end of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Space heating is a major contributor to the average energy consumption of private households, where the energy standard of a building is a controlling parameter for its heating energy demand. Vertical Ground Source Heat Pumps (vGSHP) present one possibility for a low-emission heating solution. In this paper, we present results of building performance simulations (BPS) coupled with vGSHP simulations for modelling the response of vGSHP-fields to varying heating power demands, i.e. different building types.
Based on multi-year outdoor temperature data, our simulation results show that the cooling effect of the vGSHPs in the subsurface is about 2 K lower for retrofitted buildings.
Further, a layout with one borehole heat exchanger per building can be efficiently operated over a time frame of 15 years, even if the vGSHP-field layout is parallel to regional groundwater flow in the reservoir body. Due to northward groundwater flow, thermal plumes of reduced temperatures develop at each vGSHP, showing that vGSHPs in the southern part of the model affect their northern neighbors. Considering groundwater flow in designing the layout of the vGSHP-field is conclusively important.
Combining realistic estimates of the energy demand of buildings by BPS with subsurface reservoir simulations thus presents a tool for monitoring and managing the temperature field of the subsurface, affected by Borehole Heat Exchanger (BHE) installations.</p>
<p>Since 1981, relative gravity measurements have routinely carried
out at the Campi Flegrei caldera, a densely populated area. The gravity
network also includes two absolute stations periodically measured with a
laboratory absolute gravimeter, which does not permit field measurements.</p>
<p>At the end of 2014, the Osservatorio Vesuviano, Section of Napoli of the
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV-OV), acquired a
portable absolute gravimeter that allows field operations on outdoor sites.
Therefore, in 2015 a dense absolute gravity network was established in Campi
Flegrei. This will permit an advanced approach for volcano monitoring. The
net consists of 36 stations, 34 of which located inside the caldera and
placed upon or very close to gravity stations belonging to the relative
network. Five surveys were carried out on June 2015, on February and
November 2017, on October 2018 and on October 2019. The comparison with
height changes suggests that significant <span class="inline-formula">Δ<i>g</i></span> are partly due to the
uplift occurred over the same time intervals and mostly to shallow processes
associated to the dynamic of the local hydrothermal system. The comparison
with the gradients observed during the last large uplift (1982–1984) and the
following subsidence (1985–2003) confirms this observation. These results
suggest that the present activity may be due to a transient or pulsating
phenomenon as the alternating recharge/discharge of fluids in the surface
hydrothermal system. Gravity changes detected by absolute measurements are
in good agreement with those obtained by relative ones, and confirms the
feasibility of this methodology for volcano monitoring. Finally, they also
encourage replacing the relative networks with absolute ones, with all the
consequent advantages.</p>
<p>Several terrestrial Negative Emission Technologies
(tNETs), like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS),
Afforestation/Reforestation (AR) and Enhanced Weathering (EW), rely on
natural processes and could therefore be designated as “green” forms of
geoengineering. However, even those “green” tNETs may lead to undesirable
side effects and thereby provoke moral concerns and conflicts. In this
paper, I investigated whether BECCS, AR and EW would cause moral conflicts
regarding the human right to adequate food if implemented on a scale
sufficient to limit global warming “to well below 2 <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>C”.
Reviewing recent publications concerning BECCS, AR and EW, I found that EW
would not conflict with the human right to adequate food but would likely
even promote agricultural food production due to a higher nutrient
provision. However, EW does not provide a feasible solution to limit global
warming “to well below 2 <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>C”, since a large-scale deployment of
EW would require large investments and considerable amounts of energy to
grind suitable rock-material. In regard of BECCS and AR, I found that even
under the optimistic Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6), as
assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its
latest assessment report from 2013, a large-scale deployment of BECCS and/or
AR would cause moral conflicts regarding the human right to adequate food
for present and future generations. Due to this, I advocate for more and
stronger mitigation efforts in line with efficient land management actions
concerning, e.g. peats and soils, designated as “natural climate
solutions” (NCS) and a deployment of multiple tNETs in near future.</p>
<p>We investigate to what extent the initial conditions (in terms of buoyancy and
geometry) of saline gravity currents flowing over a horizontal bottom
influence their runout and entrainment capacity. In particular, to what
extent the effect of the introduction of an inclined channel reach, just
upstream from the lock gate, influences the hydrodynamics of gravity currents
and consequently its potential erosion capacity is still an open question.
The investigation presented herein focuses on the unknown effects of an
inclined lock on the geometry of the current, on the streamwise velocity, on
bed shear stress, and on the mechanisms of entrainment and mass exchange.
Gravity currents were reproduced in the laboratory through the lock-exchange
technique, and systematic tests were performed with different initial
densities, combined with five initial volumes of release on horizontal and
sloped locks. The inclination of the upstream reach of the channel (the lock)
was varied from 0 % to 16 %, while the lock length was reduced by up to <span class="inline-formula">1∕4</span> of
the initial reference case. We observed that the shape of the current is
modified due to the enhanced entrainment of ambient water, which is the
region of the current in which this happens most. A counterintuitive relation
between slope and mean streamwise velocity was found, supporting previous
findings that hypothesized that gravity currents flowing down small slopes
experience an initial acceleration followed by a deceleration. For the
steepest slope tested, two opposite mechanisms of mass exchange are
identified and discussed, i.e., the current entrainment of water from the
upper surface due to the enhanced friction at the interface and the head
feeding by a rear-fed current. The bed shear stress and the corresponding
potential erosion capacity are discussed, giving insights into the
geomorphological implications of natural gravity currents caused in different
topographic settings.</p>
<p>Some of the most spectacular instances of deep-seated
gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) are found on Mars in the Valles
Marineris region. They provide an excellent opportunity to study DSGSD
phenomenology using a scaling approach. The topography of selected DSGSD
scarps in Valles Marineris and in the Tatra Mountains is investigated after
their likely similar postglacial origin is established. The deformed Martian
ridges are larger than the deformed terrestrial ridges by 1 to 2 orders
of magnitude with, however, a similar height-to-width ratio of <span class="inline-formula">∼0.24</span>. The measured horizontal spreading perpendicular to the ridges is
proportionally 1.8 to 2.6 times larger for the Valles Marineris ridges than
the Tatra Mountains and vertically 2.9 to 5.1 times larger, suggesting that
starting from two different initial conditions, with steeper slopes in
Valles Marineris, the final ridge geometry is now similar. Because DSGSD is
expected to now be inactive in both regions, their comparison suggests that
whatever the initial ridge morphology, DSGSD proceeds until a mature profile
is attained. Fault displacements are therefore much larger on Mars. The
large offsets imply reactivation of the DSGSD fault scarps in Valles
Marineris, whereas single seismic events would be enough to generate DSGSD
fault scarps in the Tatra Mountains. The required longer activity of the
Martian faults may be correlated with a long succession of climate cycles
generated by the unstable Martian obliquity.</p>
Gravity wave drag (GWD) is an important driver of the middle
atmospheric dynamics. However, there are almost no observational
constraints on its strength and distribution (especially
horizontal). In this study we analyze orographic GWD (OGWD) output
from Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model simulation with specified
dynamics (CMAM-sd) to illustrate the interannual variability in the
OGWD distribution at particular pressure levels in the stratosphere
and its relation to major climate oscillations. We have found
significant changes in the OGWD distribution and strength depending
on the phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), quasi-biennial
oscillation (QBO) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation. The
OGWD variability is shown to be induced by lower-tropospheric wind
variations to a large extent, and there is also significant
variability detected in near-surface momentum fluxes. We argue
that the orographic gravity waves (OGWs) and gravity waves (GWs) in general can be
a quick mediator of the tropospheric variability into the
stratosphere as the modifications of the OGWD distribution can
result in different impacts on the stratospheric dynamics during
different phases of the studied climate oscillations.
R. Strauch, E. Istanbulluoglu, S. S. Nudurupati
et al.
We develop a
hydroclimatological approach to the modeling of regional shallow landslide
initiation that integrates spatial and temporal dimensions of parameter
uncertainty to estimate an annual probability of landslide initiation based
on Monte Carlo simulations. The physically based model couples the
infinite-slope stability model with a steady-state subsurface flow
representation and operates in a digital elevation model. Spatially
distributed gridded data for soil properties and vegetation classification
are used for parameter estimation of probability distributions that
characterize model input uncertainty. Hydrologic forcing to the model is
through annual maximum daily recharge to subsurface flow obtained from a
macroscale hydrologic model. We demonstrate the model in a steep mountainous
region in northern Washington, USA, over 2700 km<sup>2</sup>. The influence of
soil depth on the probability of landslide initiation is investigated through
comparisons among model output produced using three different soil depth
scenarios reflecting the uncertainty of soil depth and its potential
long-term variability. We found elevation-dependent patterns in probability
of landslide initiation that showed the stabilizing effects of forests at low
elevations, an increased landslide probability with forest decline at
mid-elevations (1400 to 2400 m), and soil limitation and steep topographic
controls at high alpine elevations and in post-glacial landscapes. These
dominant controls manifest themselves in a bimodal distribution of spatial
annual landslide probability. Model testing with limited observations
revealed similarly moderate model confidence for the three hazard maps,
suggesting suitable use as relative hazard products. The model is available
as a component in Landlab, an open-source, Python-based landscape earth
systems modeling environment, and is designed to be easily reproduced
utilizing HydroShare cyberinfrastructure.
The Lagrangian model FLEXPART is used to identify the moisture sources of the
Congo River basin (CRB) and investigate their role in the hydrological cycle.
This model allows us to track atmospheric parcels while calculating changes
in the specific humidity through the budget of evaporation minus
precipitation. This method permits the annual-scale identification of five
continental and four oceanic principal regions that provide moisture to the
CRB from both hemispheres over the course of the year. The most important is
the CRB, which provides more than 50 % of the total atmospheric moisture
contribution to precipitation over itself. Additionally, both the land that
extends to the east of the CRB and the eastern equatorial South Atlantic
Ocean are very important sources, while the Red Sea source is merely
important in the (<i>E</i> − <i>P</i>) budget over the CRB despite its high evaporation
rate. The moisture-sink patterns over the CRB in air masses that were tracked
forward in time from all the sources follow the latitudinal rainfall
migration and are mostly highly correlated with the pattern of the
precipitation rate, ensuring a link between them. In wet (dry) years, the
contribution of moisture to precipitation from the CRB over itself increases
(decreases). Despite the enhanced evaporative conditions over the basin
during dry years, the vertically integrated moisture flux (VIMF) divergence
inhibits precipitation and suggests the transport of moisture from the CRB to
remote regions.