GeoRoundup: the highlights of EGU Journals published during June!

Each month we feature specific Divisions of EGU and during the monthly GeoRoundup we put the journals that publish science from those Divisions at the top of the Highlights roundup. For February, the Divisions we are featuring are: Geomorphology (GM) and Ocean Sciences (OS). They are served by the journals: Ocean Science (OS), Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurf), Solid Earth (SE) and Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).

Featured highlights

Earth Surface Dynamics:

Geomorphic risk maps for river migration using probabilistic modeling – a framework – 10 June 2024

In this paper, we propose a framework for generating risk maps that provide the probabilities of erosion due to river migration. This framework uses concepts from probability theory to learn the river migration model’s parameter values from satellite data while taking into account parameter uncertainty. Our analysis shows that such geomorphic risk estimation is more reliable than models that do not explicitly consider various sources of variability and uncertainty.

Geoscientific Model Development:

A perspective on the next generation of Earth system model scenarios: towards representative emission pathways (REPs) – 24 June 2024

The scientific community is considering new scenarios to succeed RCPs and SSPs for the next generation of Earth system model runs to project future climate change. To contribute to that effort, we reflect on relevant policy and scientific research questions and suggest categories for representative emission pathways. These categories are tailored to the Paris Agreement long-term temperature goal, high-risk outcomes in the absence of further climate policy and worlds “that could have been”.

Ocean Science:

Impact of Hurricane Irma on coral reef sediment redistribution at Looe Key Reef, Florida, USA – 26 June 2024

Global understanding of storm-driven sediment transport along coral reefs and its impact on species and habitats is limited. Measurement of seafloor elevation and volume change due to a category 4 hurricane showed rapid burial of coral reef habitats and migration of large seafloor features due to the storm. Post-storm erosion rates were 2 orders of magnitude greater than historical rates, indicating areas of seafloor instability that could be less suitable for restoration of benthic species.