An Issue of Permanence: Assessing the Effectiveness of Temporary Carbon Storage

In this paper, we present a method to quantify the effectiveness of carbon mitigation options taking into account the `permanence' of the emissions reduction. While the issue of permanence is most commonly associated with a `leaky' carbon sequestration reservoir, we argue that this is an issue that applies to just about all carbon mitigation options. The appropriate formulation of this problem is to ask `what is the value of temporary storage?' Valuing temporary storage can be represented as a familiar economic problem, with explicitly stated assumptions about carbon prices and the discount rate. To illustrate the methodology, we calculate the sequestration effectiveness for injecting CO₂ at various depths in the ocean. Analysis is performed for three limiting carbon price assumptions: constant carbon prices (assumes constant marginal damages), carbon prices rise at the discount rate (assumes efficient allocation of a cumulative emissions cap without a backstop technology), and carbon prices first rise at the discount rate but become constant after a given time (assumes introduction of a backstop technology). Our results show that the value of relatively deep ocean carbon sequestration can be nearly equivalent to permanent sequestration if marginal damages (i.e., carbon prices) remain constant or if there is a backstop technology that caps the abatement cost in the not too distant future. On the other hand, if climate damages are such as to require a fixed cumulative emissions limit and there is no backstop, then a storage option with even very slow leakage has limited value relative to a permanent storage option.     

Low‐temperature thermochronology of francolite: Insights into timing of Dead Sea Transform motion

Cambrian siliciclastic sequences along the Dead Sea Transform (DST) margin in southern Israel and southern Jordan host both detrital fluorapatite [D‐apatite] and U‐rich authigenic carbonate‐fluorapatite (francolite) [A‐apatite]. D‐apatite and underlying Neoproterozoic basement apatite yield fission‐track (FT) data reflecting Palaeozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary cycles and epeirogenic events, and dispersed (U–Th–Sm)/He (AHe) ages. A‐apatite, which may partially or completely replace D‐apatite, yields an early Miocene FT age suggesting formation by fracturing, hydrothermal fluid ascent and intra‐strata recrystallisation, linked to early DST motion. The DST, separating the African and Arabian plates, records ~105 km of sinistral strike‐slip displacement, but became more transtensional post‐5 Ma. Helium diffusion measurements on A‐apatite are consistent with thermally activated volume diffusion, indicating Tc ~52 to 56 ± 10°C (cooling rate 10°C/Ma). A‐apatite AHe data record Pliocene cooling (~35 to 40°C) during the transtensional phase of movement. This suggests that timing of important milestones in DST motion can be discerned using A‐apatite low‐temperature thermochronology data alone.     

Trends in the seasonal length and opening dates of a winter road in the western James Bay region,Ontario, Canada

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - In northern Canada, winter roads are essential for communities. The duration of the winter road season depends on particular meteorological conditions. In this...     

Atmospheric Corrections Using MODTRAN for TOA and Surface BRDF Characteristics from High Resolution Spectroradiometric/ Angular Measurements from a Helicopter Platform

l. IntroductionThe cIassicaI definition of bi--directional reflectance--distribution function (BRDF) is aderivative, distribution function, relatlng the irradiance incident from one given direction tolts contribution to the radiance renected in another direct1on (N1codemus et al., l977).f r (0,, rp,; 0,, rp, )= dL, (0,, P,; 0,, 9,; E, )/ dE, (0,, 9,) [sr-- 1 ], (l)where 0 (zenith angle) and 9 (azimuth angle) together indicate a direction, the subscr1pt i indi-cates quantities associated wi…     

Curved scanline theory

This work develops the theory of measuring fracture frequency with curved scanlines, as a direct development of work done by others on straight scanlines. Various possible shapes for curved scanlines range between triangular and rectangular, with circular as a reasonable preliminary selection. The discrepancy among different selections decreases with increasing roughness amplitude of the scanline. Analytic solutions for average fracture frequency are given for circular scanlines through single and multiple fracture sets. Results for single fracture sets are plotted. The analytic solution for the general situation of any shape scanline through multiple fracture sets is given. Analytic solutions are given and plotted for circular scanlines through a fracture fabric ellipsoid. A circular scanline spanning 180 degrees yields a global fracture frequency of statistical significance. This work was carried out under U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DEAC03-76SF00098 for the Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Office of External Relations, and was administered by the Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy. This work also was supported partially by the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation of Japan.     

Investigation of Possible Contamination of Shallow Ground Water by Deeply Injected Liquid Industrial Wastes

The objective of this study was to assess the possible impact of deep well disposal operations, conducted between 1958 and 1974, on the ground water quality in a shallow fresh water aquifer beneath Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Because of the breakout of formation fluids in Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan, in the early 1970s, it had been hypothesized that liquid waste from the disposal zone in bedrock had leaked through numerous abandoned oil, gas, and salt wells in the area up to the shallow fresh water aquifer and from there to the surface.
A monitoring well network of 29 5cm (2 inch) diameter piezometers was established in the thin sand and shale aquifer system, which exists between 30 and 70m (100 and 230 feet) below ground surface. In addition, a 300m (1000 foot) deep borehole was drilled and instrumented with a Westbay multilevel casing, which permitted sampling of the disposal zone.
Ground water samples from the shallow monitoring wells and the Westbay multilevel casing were analyzed for volatiles by GC/MS. Those volatile aromatics that were conspicuously present in the deep disposal zone, e.g., ethyl toluenes and trimethyl benzene, were not detected in the shallow monitoring wells. Thus, if contaminants from the disposal zone did indeed migrate to the shallow aquifer, contamination was not widespread and probably consisted mostly of displaced chloride-rich formation waters.     

High-resolution plate reconstruction of the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

We use recently acquired magnetic and SeaBeam bathymetric data to examine the spreading rates and plate boundary geometry of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30°–36° S. Using a statistically rigorous estimation of rotation poles we develop a precise spreading history of the African—South American plate boundary. The total opening rate for 1–4.23 Myr (Plio-Pleistocene) is nearly constant at 32.3 ± 1 km Myr^–1. The spreading rate apparently is faster in the Late Miocene (7.3-5.3 Myr), though this may reflect inaccuracies in the geomagnetic time scale. The rotation poles enable a plate boundary reconstruction with an accuracy of 2–3 km. The reconstructions also show that the plate boundary geometry underwent several changes since the late Miocene including the growth of one ridge segment from 40 to 105 km in length, and the reorientation of another ridge segment which has spread obliquely from 7 to 1 Myr. Pole calculations using both right- and left-stepping fracture zones show an offset of 1–2 km between the deepest, most linear part of a fracture zone trough and the former plate boundary location. The high-resolution plate kinematics suggests that the plate boundary, as a whole, evolves 2-dimensionally as prescribed by rigid plates. On a local scale, asymmetric accretion, asymmetric extension, small lateral ridge jumps (< 3 km), and intra-segment propagation result in minor plate boundary adjustments and deformation to the rigid plates.     

Testing of a towed CTD

The results of laboratory and field experiments on a CTD measuring unit attached to a controllable towed body is described. It was verified that the three-dimensional distribution of salinity and temperature could be observed with sufficient accuracy (to 0.03 in salinity and to 0.01°C in temperature if proper correction is adopted) while cruising at up to 4 knots. A double integrated A/D converter is used to compensate for effects of extraneous environmental changes.