This study summarizes the OASIS (Overburden Analysis and Seal Integrity Study for CO2 Sequestration in the North Sea) project that focuses on assessing the containment risks associated with the ...geological carbon sequestration (CCS) of the Northern Lights project. CCS is viewed as one of the most effective solutions for reducing carbon emissions, as it captures carbon dioxide from point sources and permanently stores it in suitable geological formations. However, injecting CO2 into the subsurface may have mechanical consequences, including fault reactivation, top seal fracturing, surface heave, etc. This study proposes an interdisciplinary workflow to characterize the caprock, faults, and overburden associated with CCS projects in the Horda Platform area, to improve injection-induced containment risk assessment. Our findings show that the proposed workflows and tools effectively characterize stress-related mechanical hazards. However, due to the complex nature of rocks, it is challenging to evaluate the top seal integrity using a single method. Therefore, the proposed interdisciplinary approach is more effective for any fluid injection site's characterization, given the complex nature of the subsurface and its behavior under injection-induced stress changes. This research paper adds knowledge about the top seal integrity assessment and the reliability of injected CO2, making CCS projects more reliable and safer. Although this study focuses on the northern North Sea, the proposed methods are equally applicable globally to characterize subsurface CO2 storage sites. Apart from CCS projects, these research results can benefit other subsurface injection projects, such as water injection for reservoir management, wastewater injection for disposal, hydrogen storage, and hydraulic fracturing for unconventional hydrocarbon resources.
•The Drake caprock shale possesses a relatively low brittleness indices value representing a ductile caprock.•A formation specific geomechanical properties range is proposed, which broadens the ...brittleness indices range hence higher resolution.•An initial basin-specific brittleness template has been proposed to evaluate NCS top seal shales.•The integrated caprock characterization workflow indicated the usefulness and viability of assessing any site-specific top seal.
Evaluating top seal integrity is crucial for successful subsurface CO2 storage. Caprock shale geomechanical properties are complex and influenced by various parameters and processes. It is challenging to understand the role of various factors affecting the geomechanical properties; therefore, an integrated approach is required to evaluate top seal shales. In this study, we investigated the caprock properties of the Early Jurassic shaly Drake Formation overlying the reservoir sandstones of Early Jurassic Cook and Johansen formations. The study area is the potential CO2 storage site Aurora (the Longship CCS project), located in the Horda Platform area, offshore Norway. Based on lithological variations, the Drake Formation is subdivided into upper and lower Drake units. Variations of the geomechanical properties are investigated using wireline logs from 50 exploration wells, two 3D seismic cubes, and several 2D seismic lines. Elastic property-based brittleness indices of the Drake Formation caprock shales are evaluated to identify possible top seal quality. Moreover, seismic attributes and gas leakage scenarios are investigated qualitatively to assess the possibility of injected CO2 escaping from the reservoir. Low brittleness indices value of the Drake Formation shale near the Aurora injection site indicated that the seal rock might diffuse the injection-related stress change and act as an effective top seal. Based on the integrated qualitative assessment, it is likely that the Drake caprock shale will be acted as an effective top seal in and around the Aurora storage site. However, due to the complex nature of caprock shales, we recommend field-scale numerical simulation to evaluate the injection-induced stress-strain effect.
The article studies lexical designations of the natural phenomenon of the Northern lights in scientific, literary, journalistic and advertising texts of German- and Russian-speaking authors. The ...purpose is to compare and contrast their implementation in German and Russian Arctic discourses. The study of semantics, syntactics and pragmatics of lexical designations of the phenomenon allows authors to comprehensively assess the views of German and Russian scientists, writers, poets, journalists, representatives of tourism and advertising business on the northern lights. A comparative study of lexical designations of the northern Lights in the focus of German and Russian Arctic discourses shows the similarity in the presentation of the lexical categories under consideration according to the existing universal (scientific) world picture and the differences in the implementation of lexical designations of northern lights, explained by the national world picture of the representatives of two compared linguistic cultures.
The third-person omniscient narrator of fiction texts for children holds the ability to access characters’ thoughts, fly where they will within the story, and interact with time and tense. Philip ...Pullman characterises this kind of narrator as a multiscient sprite, not a human seeing and telling, but something else which possesses unhuman-like qualities. This paper uses an analysis of the narrator’s voice, character, and choices to access two other characters created by the story being told—the narratee and the implied reader, both of whom may well be thought of as child characters produced by the text. A profile of these two products is then presented. Through a close textual analysis, which draws out untagged parts of Northern Light’s narrator’s speech, an examination of the kinds of characters the narratee, and implied reader could be seen to be is gathered. The narrator’s ability to intensely empathise with characters is passed onto the narratee and also normalised by aspects of the story, including the alethiometer, a device from the created world of the story which is imbued with strikingly similar qualities to the narrator. Lyra, the book’s protagonist, and the instrument interact with each other in a manner akin to the narrator and narratee, both having an agency which the implied reader could be bestowed with from reading the text.
•First systematic review of auroral ecosystem services and disservices in the academic literature.•Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) method employed for the review.•Initial CICES ...classification and inventory of auroral ecosystem services (14) and ecosystem disservices (9).•Multiple opportunities for future research as well as auroral ES in management and decision making.•Novel introduction of “exosystem services” (EXS) to account for flows into socio-ecological systems from the space environment.
Auroral ecosystem services (ES) is a subject that has not yet been formally addressed in the expansive ecosystem services literature. This study conducts a systematic literature review using the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) method to investigate the vast multi-century auroral literature for synthesis with the ES concept and identifies the main ES provisioned by the auroral phenomenon. A total of 2,900 publications concerning the aurora were sourced from three scientific databases (ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar), 1,054 articles were advanced to the synthesis and analysis stage, and 525 of the most illustrative examples were retained for the purposes of this review. Based on the categorization in accordance with Version 5.1 of the Common International Classification for Ecosystem Services typology, a total of 14 auroral ES are identified: provisioning (4), regulation and maintenance (1) and cultural (9). In addition, 9 ecosystem disservices (EDS) are also identified and classified: provisioning (4), regulation and maintenance (3) and cultural (2). The aurora is found to function in geophysical, biophysical and socio-ecological systems in a variety of ways. A novel extension of the ES concept is introduced as “exosystem services” (EXS), accounting for the aurora as an overlap between flows into ecosystems from the space environment, mirroring the geosystem services (GS) concept and its flows into ecosystems from the subsurface environment. Auroral ES in management and decision-making is discussed, and multiple opportunities for additional research are explored.
Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), we traces the translations and ordering processes underlying the fast-growing northern lights tourism network in northern Norway. It also shows how the outbreak ...of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 2020, represented the most severe market shock. The results, following a multi-methods qualitative approach, unpack how this network emerged, accelerated and matured through diverse processes and practices, involving human and non-human actors. The study illustrates how elusive natural phenomena can become successful tourism attractions, but also that they may include vulnerabilities, when facing hostile actors. The study, describes how the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the northern lights tourism network, and how the Norwegian government, through authoritarian and assistive measures and regulations, contributed to and mitigated this interruption.
•Scrutinises the becoming and maturing of the northern lights tourism network.•Demonstrates how translations and ordering processes established the network.•Examines the interruptive forces of COVID-19 upon the network.•Establishes the complexities and coincidences permeating tourism development.•Identifies key human and non-human actors' roles in the network development.
The aurora borealis research carried out by China and Japan in the Arctic state of Iceland has been received very differently both in Iceland and abroad. While the Japanese research has gone almost ...unnoticed for decades, the Chinese research has been received with much scepticism and negative media coverage, including talk of a possible security threat. This paper presents a comparative study which explores the history of the two research projects, as well as their execution and reception. Through the lens of the aurora research, the paper also explores the broader implications of Arctic and science diplomacy on bilateral relations between Iceland and the two Asian powerhouses. As the aurora research in Iceland has so far received limited academic attention outside the natural sciences, the paper is largely based on primary research, including thirteen in-depth interviews with key individuals closely connected to the projects. The paper demonstrates the different reception of the two projects in Iceland and discusses both organisational issues, such as differences in scale and capacity, and underlying factors related to international politics. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the Japanese case is a purely science-focused collaboration devoid of science diplomacy, while in the Chinese case, science has been used as a tool to facilitate more strategic diplomatic goals - most importantly the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between China and Iceland.
Characterization of caprock shale is critical in CO2 storage site evaluation because the caprock shale acts as a barrier for the injected buoyant CO2 plume. The properties of shales are complex and ...influenced by various processes; hence, it is challenging to evaluate the caprock quality. An integrated approach is therefore necessary for assessing seal integrity. In this study, we investigated the caprock properties of the Lower Jurassic Drake Formation shales from the proposed CO2 storage site Aurora (the Longship/Northern Lights CCS project), located in the Horda Platform area, offshore Norway. Wireline logs from 50 exploration wells, various 2D seismic lines, and two 3D seismic cubes were used to investigate the variations of the caprock properties. The Drake Formation was subdivided into upper and lower Drake units based on the lithological variations observed. Exhumation and thermal gradient influencing the caprock properties were also analyzed. Moreover, rock physics diagnostics were carried out, and caprock property maps were generated using the average log values to characterize the Drake Formation shales. In addiiton, pre-stack seismic-inverted properties and post-stack seismic attributes were assessed and compared to the wireline log-based analysis. The sediment source controlled at 61° N significantly influenced the depositional environment of the studied area, which later influenced the diagenetic processes and had various caprock properties. The upper and lower Drake units represent similar geomechanical properties in the Aurora area, irrespective of significant lithological variations. The Drake Formation caprock shale near the injection site shows less-ductile to less-brittle brittleness values. Based on the caprock thickness and shaliness in the Aurora injection site, Drake Formation shale might act as an effective top seal. However, the effect of injection-induced pressure changes on caprock integrity needs to be evaluated.
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