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  • The potential for leakage of CO2 from a storage reservoir into the overlying marine sediments and into the water column and the impacts on benthic ecosystems are major challenges The potential for leakage of CO2 from a storage reservoir into the overlying marine sediments and into the water column and the impacts on benthic ecosystems are major challenges associated with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in subseafloor reservoirs. To investigate the consequences of CO2 leakage for the marine environment, a field-scale controlled CO2 release experiment was conducted in shallow, unconsolidated marine sediments. Changes of the chemical composition of the sediments, their pore waters and overlying water column were monitored before, during and up to 1 year after the 37-day long CO2 release from May 2012 to May 2013. In particular this focused on changes in the solid phase (physical properties, major and minor elemental composition, inorganic and organic carbon content), the pore water chemical composition (cations, anions, nutrients and the carbonate system parameters total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon and isotopic signature of DIC) and the water column chemical composition (oxygen, nutrients, total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon). This dataset was collected by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) under the program QICS (Quantifying and monitoring environmental impacts of geological carbon storage) which was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with support from the Scottish Government. The results are contained in an Excel file. QICS project website: www.bgs.ac.uk/qics/home.html. Lichtschlag et al. (2014) Effect of a controlled sub-seabed release of CO2 on the biogeochemistry of shallow marine sediments, their pore waters, and the overlying water column, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1750583614003090 (doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.10.008).

  • Between December 2012 and March 2013, snow measurements were conducted at both Gourlay Snowfield and Tuva Glacier, Signy Island. Sites are denoted ''TX'' and ''GY'', where ''X'' and ''Y'' are numbers representing one of nine snowpits in a grid at Tuva and Gourlay respectively. Measurements include snow water equivalent and chemical properties. Snow thickness was measured during the surveys (and opportunistically following fresh snowfall events) at all 18 snow pits using an avalanche probe (average of 3 readings per sampling site). Snow density was also assessed at each site using a 1L pvc. snow tube. The thickness of the superimposed ice was measured at the beginning and at the end of the season after excavation using an ice axe. In order to calculate the proportion of the total winter accumulation that was transformed into superimposed ice by refreezing, its density was assumed to be 0.9 kg L-1. Three surveys at each of the 18 sites were conducted for biogeochemical conditions: ''top'' refers to the upper 20cm; ''mid'' refers to the rest of the snow; and ''ice'' is the basal ice (refrozen snowmelt on top of last summer''s surface). Key chemical properties determined include pH, dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved inorganic carbon, ammonium, chlorophyll and major ions. Funding was provided by the NERC grants NE/H014446/1 and NE/H014802/1.

  • Bibliographic Data - Oral and Poster Presentations given by members of Work Package 5 of the HydroFrame (Hydromechanical and Biogeochemical Processes in Fractured Rock Masses in the Vicinity of a Geological Disposal Facility for Radioactive Waste) project. Presentations given between November 2014 and November 2016.

  • These data are (1) porewater extractions of cores of the permafrost and active layer of Adventdalen, Svalbard, (2) solid-phase extractions of the same cores, and (3) in-situ porewater sampling from the end of the summer, 2017. The aqueous parameters are: major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-), Fe(aq), Mn(aq), aqueous CH4 and CO2 concentrations, delta 13C- CH4, acetate, propionic acid, isobutyric acid, butyric acid, isovaleric acid, valeric acid, isocaproic acid, caproic acid, heptanoic acid, pH, oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen and alkalinity. The solid parameters are: organic carbon, nitrogen, acid volatile sulphur (AVS), chromium-reducible sulphur (CRS), amorphous and nanoparticulate iron (oxyhydr)oxides, crystalline iron (oxyhydr)oxides, iron bound in carbonates, and magnetite. Funding was provided by the NERC grant NE/M019829/1.