Highlight articles

This page features highlight articles from EGU's open access journals Earth Surface Dynamics, Geoscientific Model Development and Solid Earth. These articles of particular interest are selected by journal editors.

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Seismic location and tracking of snow avalanches and slush flows on Mt. Fuji, Japan

Avalanches and slush flows from Mt. Fuji are a major natural hazard as they may attain run-out distances of up to 4 km and destroy parts of the forest and infrastructure. We located and tracked them for the first time using seismic data. Numerical simulations were conducted to assess the precision of the seismic tracking. We also inferred dynamical properties characterizing these hazardous mass movements. This information is indispensable for assessing avalanche risk in the Mt. Fuji region.

The biophysics, ecology, and biogeochemistry of functionally diverse, vertically and horizontally heterogeneous ecosystems: the Ecosystem Demography model, version 2.2 – Part 1: Model description

Our paper describes the Ecosystem Demography model. This computer program calculates how plants and ground exchange heat, water, and carbon with the air, and how plants grow, reproduce and die in different climates. Most models simplify forests to an average big tree. We consider that tall, deep-rooted trees get more light and water than small plants, and that some plants can with shade and drought. This diversity helps us to better explain how plants live and interact with the atmosphere.

The biophysics, ecology, and biogeochemistry of functionally diverse, vertically and horizontally heterogeneous ecosystems: the Ecosystem Demography model, version 2.2 – Part 2: Model evaluation for tropical South America

The Ecosystem Demography model calculates the fluxes of heat, water, and carbon between plants and ground and the air, and the life cycle of plants in different climates. To test if our calculations were reasonable, we compared our results with field and satellite measurements. Our model predicts well the extent of the Amazon forest, how much light forests absorb, and how much water forests release to the air. However, it must improve the tree growth rates and how fast dead plants decompose.

Mapping landscape connectivity as a driver of species richness under tectonic and climatic forcing

Mountainous landscapes have long been recognized as potential drivers for genetic drift, speciation, and ecological resilience. We present a novel approach that can be used to assess and quantify drivers of biodiversity, speciation, and endemism over geological time. Using coupled climate–landscape models, we show that biodiversity under tectonic and climatic forcing relates to landscape dynamics and that landscape complexity drives species richness through orogenic history.

How can geologic decision-making under uncertainty be improved?

Solid Earth
DOI 10.5194/se-10-1469-2019
3 September 2019

In this paper, we outline the key insights from decision-making research about how, when faced with uncertainty, humans constrain decisions through the use of heuristics (rules of thumb), making them vulnerable to systematic and suboptimal decision biases. We also review existing strategies to debias decision-making that have applicability in the geosciences, giving special attention to strategies that make use of information technology and artificial intelligence.

Improved methodologies for Earth system modelling of atmospheric soluble iron and observation comparisons using the Mechanism of Intermediate complexity for Modelling Iron (MIMI v1.0)

MIMI v1.0 was designed for use within Earth system models to simulate the 3-D emission, atmospheric processing, and deposition of iron and its soluble fraction. Understanding the iron cycle is important due to its role as an essential micronutrient for ocean phytoplankton; its supply limits primary productivity in many of the world’s oceans. Human activity has perturbed the iron cycle, and MIMI is capable of diagnosing many of these impacts; hence, it is important for future climate studies.

A global delta dataset and the environmental variables that predict delta formation on marine coastlines

River deltas are valuable resources that support biodiversity and human habitation. Despite this we do not have a global census of deltas nor do we know the conditions that promote their formation. We surveyed 5399 river mouths greater than 50 m wide and found that 2174 (40%) create a delta. The conditions that lead to delta formation are high sediment input and low wave and tide conditions. These results can be used to understand how deltas will adapt to environmental changes.

Fault-controlled dolomitization in the Montagna dei Fiori Anticline (Central Apennines, Italy): record of a dominantly pre-orogenic fluid migration

The dolomitized intervals of the Lower Jurassic deposits exposed in the Montagna dei Fiori Anticline (Central Apennines, Italy) have been investigated. Accordingly, two fault-related dolomitization events were recognised and interpreted as having occurred before and during the Apenninic orogeny. The analyses suggest significant involvement of evaporitic fluids in both events, most likely derived from the underlying Upper Triassic Burano Formation in the detachment level.

Evaluating post-glacial bedrock erosion and surface exposure duration by coupling in situ optically stimulated luminescence and 10Be dating

Assessing the impact of glaciation at the Earth’s surface requires simultaneous quantification of the impact of climate variability on past glacier fluctuations and on bedrock erosion. Here we present a new approach for evaluating post-glacial bedrock surface erosion in mountainous environments by combining two different surface exposure dating methods. This approach can be used to estimate how bedrock erosion rates vary spatially and temporally since glacier retreat in an alpine environment.

Alluvial channel response to environmental perturbations: fill-terrace formation and sediment-signal disruption

We performed seven physical experiments to explore terrace formation and sediment export from a braided alluvial river system that is perturbed by changes in water discharge, sediment supply, or base level. Each perturbation differently affects (1) the geometry of terraces and channels, (2) the timing of terrace formation, and (3) the transient response of sediment discharge. Our findings provide guidelines for interpreting fill terraces and sediment export from fluvial systems.

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