Controlled‐source electromagnetic monitoring of reservoir oil saturation using a novel borehole‐to‐surface configuration

To advance and optimize secondary and tertiary oil recovery techniques, it is essential to know the areal propagation and distribution of the injected fluids in the subsurface. We investigate the applicability of controlled‐source electromagnetic methods to monitor fluid movements in a German oilfield (Bockstedt, onshore Northwest Germany) as injected brines (highly saline formation water) have much lower electrical resistivity than the oil within the reservoir. The main focus of this study is on controlled‐source electromagnetic simulations to test the sensitivity of various source–receiver configurations. The background model for the simulations is based on two‐dimensional inversion of magnetotelluric data gathered across the oil field and calibrated with resistivity logs. Three‐dimensional modelling results suggest that controlled‐source electromagnetic methods are sensitive to resistivity changes at reservoir depths, but the effect is difficult to resolve with surface measurements only. Resolution increases significantly if sensors or transmitters can be placed in observation wells closer to the reservoir. In particular, observation of the vertical electric field component in shallow boreholes and/or use of source configurations consisting of combinations of vertical and horizontal dipoles are promising. Preliminary results from a borehole‐to‐surface controlled‐source electromagnetic field survey carried out in spring 2014 are in good agreement with the modelling studies.     

Marine spatial planning in the high seas

Although high seas resources are being exploited, reciprocal legal obligations to protect its environment have not been met. Marine spatial planning (MSP) is clearly a practical way forward, particularly for the high seas, where non-spatial monitoring is difficult, and where data gaps obstruct conventional management approaches. To ensure the effective application of MSP in the high seas, however, some institutional reforms are necessary. This paper outlines the main hurdles, summarizes existing high seas spatial protections, presents an example of a high seas marine protected area that resulted through MSP, identifies three institutional priorities, and suggests three immediate steps.     

Adsorption of oxalate and malonate at the water-goethite interface: Molecular surface speciation from IR spectroscopy

The adsorption of oxalate and malonate at the water-goethite interface was studied as a function of pH and total ligand concentrations by means of quantitative adsorption measurements and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The obtained results conclusively showed that oxalate and malonate both form outer-sphere and inner-sphere surface complexes on goethite, and that these complexes coexist over a broad pH interval. The inner-sphere complexes were favored by low pH, while the relative concentrations of the outer-sphere species increase with increasing pH. Based on comparisons with model complexes characterized by Extended X-Ray Adsorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and results from theoretical frequency calculations, the structures of the inner-sphere complexes of oxalate and malonate were best described as mononuclear five- and six-membered ring chelate structures, respectively. The stability of the inner-sphere complexes followed the trend expected from solutions studies, with the oxalate five-membered ring yielding the more stable complexes compared to the six-membered ring of malonate. The increased stability of the inner-sphere complex of oxalate was manifested in a greater extent of adsorption at acidic pH values. Despite the fact that significant amounts of oxalate and malonate inner-sphere surface complexes were formed, no ligand-promoted dissolution was observed at the experimental conditions in the study.     

Sensitivity analysis and uncertainty assessment in water budgets simulated by the variable infiltration capacity model for Canadian subarctic watersheds

In this study, we evaluate uncertainties propagated through different climate data sets in seasonal and annual hydrological simulations over 10 subarctic watersheds of northern Manitoba, Canada, using the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model. Further, we perform a comprehensive sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of the VIC model using a robust and state-of-the-art approach. The VIC model simulations utilize the recently developed variogram analysis of response surfaces (VARS) technique that requires in this application more than 6,000 model simulations for a 30-year (1981–2010) study period. The method seeks parameter sensitivity, identifies influential parameters, and showcases streamflow sensitivity to parameter uncertainty at seasonal and annual timescales. Results suggest that the Ensemble VIC simulations match observed streamflow closest, whereas global reanalysis products yield high flows (0.5–3.0 mm day⁻¹) against observations and an overestimation (10–60%) in seasonal and annual water balance terms. VIC parameters exhibit seasonal importance in VARS, and the choice of input data and performance metrics substantially affect sensitivity analysis. Uncertainty propagation due to input forcing selection in each water balance term (i.e., total runoff, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration) is examined separately to show both time and space dimensionality in available forcing data at seasonal and annual timescales. Reliable input forcing, the most influential model parameters, and the uncertainty envelope in streamflow prediction are presented for the VIC model. These results, along with some specific recommendations, are expected to assist the broader VIC modelling community and other users of VARS and land surface schemes, to enhance their modelling applications.     

A robust feldspar luminescence dating method for Middle and Late Pleistocene sediments

Luminescence dating is used extensively to provide absolute chronologies for Late Pleistocene sediments. Nowadays, most optical dates are based on quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). However, the application of this signal is usually limited to the last ～100 ka because of saturation of the quartz luminescence signal with dose. In contrast, the feldspar infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dose–response curve grows to much higher doses; this has the potential to extend the datable age range by a factor of 4–5 compared with quartz OSL. However, it has been known for several decades that this IRSL signal is unstable, and this instability often gives rise to significant age underestimation. Here we test against independent age control the recently developed feldspar post‐IR IRSL approach to the dating of sediments, which appears to avoid signal instability. A physical model explaining our observations is discussed, and the method is shown to be accurate back to 600 ka. The post‐IR IRSL signal is reduced by exposure to daylight more slowly than that from quartz and low‐temperature IRSL, preventing its general application to young (e.g. Holocene) sediments. Nevertheless, this new approach is widely applicable (feldspar of appropriate luminescence behaviour is even more ubiquitous than quartz). These characteristics make this a method of great importance for the dating of Middle and Late Pleistocene deposits.     

Anglo American media representations, traditional medicine, and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: from muti killings to garlic cures

Before 2000 limited media coverage of medicine in South Africa existed, yet much of what did exist centered primarily on traditional healing practices. It was not until the introduction of HIV/AIDS that traditional medicine was seen as having some potential value to the population, but only so far as the ability of traditional healers to direct patients to biomedical treatment. This article examines how the contemporary western media portrays medicine in South Africa and how the introduction of HIV/AIDS as a major news story has shifted the depiction of western and traditional medical treatment. Insights from these questions are examined in light of the colonial context of South Africa’s political struggle over medicine.     

Dating recent floodplain sediments in the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River system,eastern Australia using single‐grain quartz OSL

Two fluvial sediment cores taken from a floodplain of the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River system in the Sydney region, eastern Australia are dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to provide a reliable chronology essential for the management and planning of water resources. Nine charcoal ¹⁴C (AMS) dates constrain these OSL ages. Quartz extracted from seven OSL samples from each of the cores was measured using both single‐grain and multi‐grain OSL techniques. Three of the single‐grain natural dose distributions appear to be well bleached, but the others appear to be incompletely bleached to various degrees. Three minimum‐age models (MAM, MAM_UL and IEU) are applied to the single‐grain dose distributions. We conclude that these models give consistent age estimates. For one of the cores it appears to be necessary to use a minimum‐age model to obtain accurate ages, but in the other core incomplete bleaching is probably less important than postdepositional mixing and mixing during sampling. As a result, the burial age is probably best estimated using the weighted average of the individual single‐grain dose estimates. The application of multi‐grain OSL techniques to these samples results in an average apparent age overestimation of ～200 years, which is significant for these samples, but negligible for sediments older than a few thousand years. The intention is that the chronology obtained in this study will be used in conjunction with a proxy flood record, derived from floodplain sediments, to gain an understanding of the long‐term variability in periods of high and low rainfall in eastern Australia.     

Climate change: Motivation for taking measure to adapt

We tested two consequences of a currently influential theory based on the notion of seeing adaptations to climate change as local adjustments to deal with changing conditions within the constraints of the broader economic–social–political arrangements. The notion leaves no explicit role for the strength of personal beliefs in climate change and adaptive capacity. The consequences were: (i) adaptive action to climate change taken by an individual who is exposed to and sensitive to climate change is not influenced to a considerable degree by their strength of belief in climate change and (ii) adaptive action to climate change taken by an individual who is exposed to and sensitive to climate change is not influenced to a considerable degree by their strength of belief in an adaptive capacity. Data from a 2004 questionnaire of 1950 Swedish private individual forest owners, who were assumed exposed to and sensitive to climate change, were used. Strength of belief in climate change and adaptive capacities were found to be crucial factors for explaining observed differences in adaptation among Swedish forest owners.     

Balance Between Autotrophic and Heterotrophic Components and Processes in Microbenthic Communities of Sandy Sediments: A Field Study

The microscopic community of a microtidal sandy sediment on the Swedish west coast was studiedin situat two depths (0·5 and 4 m) on four occasions (January, April, August and October). Biomass of microalgae, bacteria, ciliates and meiofauna, as well as primary and bacterial productivity, were quantified. Meiofaunal grazing on algae and bacteria was measured simultaneously by radiolabelling intact sediment cores. Autotrophic biomass dominated the microbial community at both depths and on all sampling occasions, accounting for 47–87% of the microbial biomass. Meiofauna contributed 10–47%, while bacteria and ciliates together made up less than 6%. The microflora was dominated by attached (epipsammic) diatoms, but occasional ‘ blooms ’ of motile species occurred. Vital cells of planktonic diatoms contributed to benthic algal biomass in spring. Primary productivity exceeded bacterial productivity in April and August at both depths, while the balance was reversed in October and January. Meiofauna grazed between 2 and 12% of the algal biomass per day, and between 0·3 and 37% of the bacterial biomass. Almost an order of magnitude more algal (17–138 mg C m⁻²) than bacterial (0·1–33 mg C m⁻²) carbon was grazed daily. At the shallow site, primary productivity always exceeded grazing rates on algae, whereas at the deeper site, grazing exceeded primary productivity in October and January. Bacterial productivity exceeded grazing at both depths on all four occasions. Thus, meiofaunal grazing seasonally controlled microalgal, but not bacterial, biomass. These results suggest that, during summer, only a minor fraction (<10%) of the daily microbenthic primary production appears to enter the ‘ small food web ’ through meiofauna. During spring and autumn, however, a much larger fraction (≈30–60%) of primary production may pass through meiofauna. During winter, meiofaunal grazing is a less important link in the shallow zone, but at sublittoral depths, algal productivity may be limiting, and meiofauna depend on other food sources, such as bacteria and detritus.     

The aqueous thermal boundary layer

This article reviews the available data, measurement techniques, and present understanding of the millimeter thick aqueous thermal boundary layer. A temperature difference between the surface and lower strata, T, of the order of a few tenths to –1 °C have been observed. Techniques ranging from miniature mercury thermometers and electrical point sensors to optical interferometry and infrared radiometry have been employed. Many processes influence the temperature structure in this thin boundary layer. Among them are: the net upward heat flux due to evaporation and sensible heat transfer; infrared and solar radiation; and the turbulence near the interface due to wind mixing, wave breaking and current shear. Presence of solute and surface-active materials stimulate or dampen these mixing processes thereby influencing boundary-layer thickness and temperature structure.Department of Atmospheric Sciences Contribution Number 354.