Agustin Argüello Scotti
2024-04-03 12:15 - 13:00 (Europe/Oslo) | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Baffled by Baffles: Modelling and Evaluating the Effects of Internal Heterogeneity in Wave-dominated, Shallow-marine Reservoirs
Agustin Argüello Scotti
Shallow marine successions make for excellent oil and gas reservoirs worldwide and are particularly important as carbon capture and storage targets. Although usually very noble reservoirs, their internal heterogeneities can have a significant impact on fluid flow under certain conditions. Even so, there are not many available efficient methods to model such heterogeneities. The general aim of this talk is to show how baffles or barriers in shallow-marine wave-dominated reservoirs can be modelled by the GEOPARD algorithm, allowing for the evaluation of their effects on fluid flow using the Eclipse 100 simulator. This is achieved by (i) modeling an outcropping shallow marine succession with Truncated Gaussian Simulation and GEOPARD, showing the differences between the traditional and the newly developed method, (ii) showing how to set up an experimental design in ECLIPSE, designed to evaluate the effect of geological heterogeneity in fluid flow and (iii) comparing the impact of modelling and not modelling heterogeneities; helping us realize if it’s worthwhile to be ‘baffled by baffles’.

EGU practice talks
2024-04-10 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
EGU practice talks
Leonardo Muniz Pichel – The role of post-salt carbonates on salt tectonic minibasin formation.
Gang Lu – On the causes of melt focusing at mid-ocean ridges: Ridge suction versus permeability barrier

Masters Slot
2024-04-17 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Masters Slot
More details soon…

Helene Stemland
2024-04-24 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Fieldwork in Svalbard for students
Helene Stemland
This seminar highlights the opportunities and challenges of involving students in geophysical data acquisition, drawing from years of experimentation. It explores how field data collected during courses contribute to ongoing research. The presentation includes captivating videos created by students to illustrate their experiences and contributions to the field.

Albina Gilmullina
2024-05-15 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Albina Gilmullina
More details soon…

Tim Cullen
2024-05-22 00:15 - 13:00
Tim Cullen
More details soon…

Marianna Anichini
2024-05-29 00:15 - 13:00
Marianna Anichini
Seismic-to-acoustic coupling in the Arctic Ocean: What the Gakkel Ridge can reveal

Eliane Petersohn
2024-06-05 00:15 - 13:00
Investigating Naturally Fractured Reservoirs in the Brazilian Pre-Salt Play
Eliane Petersohn
Eliane is an experienced geologist working for ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, equivalent to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate) in Brazil for more than 15 years, currently on leave to do a Fulbright-funded PhD project at Stanford. There, she is working on the relationship between deformation structures (fractures, mostly) and fluid flow in the subset carbonate reservoirs offshore Brazil, employing a wealth of well and seismic data available through ANP.
Abstract:
Natural fracture networks significantly enhance reservoir permeability, facilitating fluid flow and optimizing production rates within carbonate reservoirs. However, these networks also introduce heterogeneity, creating complex flow pathways that can be challenging to characterize and quantify. Similarly, fault systems act as conduits or barriers to fluid flow, contributing to reservoir heterogeneity and potentially inducing fracturing. Understanding the interplay between these features is crucial for effective reservoir management. The Brazilian Pre-salt Province, characterized by naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs with exceptionally high production rates, exemplifies this challenge. While the high productivity is likely linked to interconnected fracture and fault systems, their complex nature and limitations in observation scale make characterization challenging. My research aims to unravel this complexity by investigating the relationship between fracture networks, fault systems, and their influence on reservoir property distribution. To achieve this, I propose an integrated approach encompassing 3D seismic interpretation, geomechanical modeling, and analysis of seismic and sonic anisotropy. Preliminary results from a strategically selected well in the Atapu field reveal valuable insights into fracture characteristics, including a consistent WSW-ENE strike orientation. However, a clear correlation between highly fractured intervals and permeability, porosity, or silica content was not observed. Notably, fractures do correlate with vuggy porosity estimated from the acoustic borehole image (BHI). Additionally, a fracture index, developed using random forest regression on well log responses and BHI-interpreted fracture intensity, demonstrates promising results in predicting fractured intervals.

Umut Isikalp
2024-06-12 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
4D Evolution of a Salt Wall and Implication for Flanking Minibasin Stratigraphy: An Example from the Egersund Basin, Norwegian North Sea
Umut Isikalp
Salt diapirs are the most common type of salt-tectonic structure, occurring in many, if not all, salt basins. Two main types of diapiric structures are typically developed: salt walls, which are defined by axial ratios >2, and salt stocks, which have axial ratios <2. Diapirs form in response to a range of geological processes, including contraction, extension, differential loading, and buoyancy instabilities. Differential loading is often associated with the formation of minibasins, which subside and subsequently drive salt into adjacent diapirs. Although we have a good general understanding of the growth of diapirs, our knowledge of their four-dimensional evolution and the temporal and spatial relationships between walls and stocks is relatively limited.
In this study, we examine Triassic stratal geometries around a 23 km long, 2.5 km wide and 3100 ms (TWT) tall salt wall in the Egersund Basin, offshore Norway. In particular, we explore how stratal geometries develop in 4-D and how they are influenced by evolving salt structure and other controls in a continental depositional environment. The Egersund Basin and the salt wall we have chosen are an ideal study location, given it contains seismically well-imaged salt structures and adjacent minibasins. Well 17-12-1R penetrates the entire thickness of the Triassic minibasin succession, allowing us to construct a robust, age-constrained seismic-stratigraphic framework, and to analyse diapir kinematics in 4-D.
We identify and map six Triassic sequences and undertake schematic restorations of Triassic stratal geometries on both wall-perpendicular and wall-parallel (through axes of flanking minibasins) seismic sections. Analysis of thickness patterns and salt-sediment relationships on wall-perpendicular sections suggests the initial trigger for salt mobilization into the wall was sediment loading. This loading led to the formation of a pillow, which, during the early Carnian period, evolved diachronously into a wall due to the varying timing of erosion of the overburden and active diapirism. Thickness patterns, stratal upturns, the style, and distribution of angular unconformities between seismic sequences, and variations in axial fold traces suggest the driving force of wall growth from the mid-Carnian to the end of the Triassic was passive diapirism (i.e., sediment loading), which was associated with minibasin downbuilding. Wall-parallel seismic sections within the axes of flanking minibasins indicate that superimposed on this general growth pattern was the formation of along-strike turtle structures, pointing the growth of salt welds during both the Carnian and Norian periods, related to complex, four-dimensional salt flow into nearby diapirs.
The complex spatio-temporal variations in subsidence, stratal upturns, angular unconformities, thickening, and thinning patterns around the salt wall over time, driven by salt flow and diapir evolution, have significant implications for the geometry and distribution of potential reservoirs, relevant for both carbon capture and storage as well as traditional oil and gas exploration.

Prof Delphine Rouby
2024-09-05 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Source-To-Sink Sedimentary Budget of the African Equatorial Atlantic Rifted Margin
Prof Delphine Rouby
Despite their very low relief and erosion rates, non-orogenic (i.e., cratonic) continental domains account for over 60% of the Earth’s exposed lands. Therefore, they contribute significantly to the clastic sediments and solutes exported to the ocean and should be accounted for in global studies. Nonetheless, they have been much less studied than orogenic domains. In this study, we establish the source-to-sink sedimentary budget of the sub-saharan West African cratonic domain and its Equatorial Atlantic rifted margin using published low-temperature thermochronological data to estimate onshore denudation and regional geological cross-sections to estimate offshore accumulation. We show that during and immediately following rifting (130-94 Ma), the build-up and subsequent erosion of rift-related relief resulted in a transient, 100–200 km wide strip along the margin recording high denudation rates (>50 m/Myr), while the inland domain underwent steady and very low denudation (<10 m/Myr). Afterward, the whole onshore domain underwent very low and steady denudation. Thus, the changes in post-rift accumulation rates documented along the rifted margin were caused by changes in the climate and/or drainage network. During the Late Cretaceous, we document a regional rise in accumulation rates caused by the enlargement of drainage areas feeding the basins by a hinterlandward migration of the continental divide. During the Paleogene, we document a general drop in accumulation rates in all the basins of the African Atlantic margins caused by the global greenhouse climate, which enhanced the development of lateritic weathering mantles, storing clastic sediments on the continent and favoring solute exports to the ocean.

Salt Tectonics for the energy transition
2024-09-18 12:00 - 13:30 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Salt Tectonics for the energy transition
Practice talks for the conference Unlocking the Potential of Salt Tectonics in the Energy Transition
Manel Ramos
Architecture and controlling factors of intra-salt layers in diapiric structures: A numerical modelling approach
Understanding the structure of intra-salt layers within deformed salt bodies is crucial for effective CO2 and H2 storage in salt basins. This study employs high-resolution 2D finite element modelling to investigate how variations in salt stratigraphy and lithological variability and post-salt sedimentation patterns influence the deformation processes and the internal architecture of diapiric salt structures for different basin geometries. We test intra-salt lithological variability by varying the vertical arrangement, viscosity and density of salt layers as well as including non-viscous (frictional-plastic) layers simulating carbonates and/or siliciclastics embedded within the layered salt sequence. The models with alternated low (1018) and high (1019 Pa×s) viscosity salt layers show significant internal salt flow partition characterized by preferential flow of the weak salt layers into the core of diapirs, as the stronger layers remain at their flanks and/or underneath adjacent minibasins. The order of the strong and weak salt layers also has a significant impact on the overall external and internal style of salt deformation, with both the basal and top layer being the most significant. Increasing the density of strong salt layers produce even greater internal salt flow partition with pronounced intra-diapir complexity, convolute folding, repetition of intra-salt stratigraphy within diapirs and occasionally boudinage. Stronger and denser layers tend to get trapped at the base of diapirs and/or underneath diapirs while being folded and refolded by flow of the intervening weaker and less-dense layers. The basin geometry and the presence of base-salt relief also have a significant influence on the basin-scale style and magnitude of salt deformation. The results can help elucidate the basin-scale controls exerted on both internal and external diapir geometries for rift basins, which are directly applicable for various areas of the North Sea, a key location for utilization of salt structures for geo-storage.
Leonardo Pichel
The role of intra-salt stratigraphy and lithological variability on the internal and external geometry of salt bodies – a numerical modelling approach
Umut Isikalp
Harya Nugraha
PDF of the conference

Anna Karin Døsen (MSc)
2024-09-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Salt tectonics: Sivas Basin (Turkey)
Anna Karin Døsen

Robert Reinecke
2024-09-26 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
How to use an impossible map – uncertainties in modeling the global water cycle
Robert Reinecke (Guest at the Department invited by Elco Luijendijk)
Global water models allow us to explore the terrestrial water cycle in an earth-sized digital laboratory to guide science and policy. These models simulate increasingly complex representations of different compartments, such as groundwater, and complex processes, such as seawater intrusion. They are coupled with other models, bringing us closer to a digital twin of Earth and enabling us to carry out complex impact assessments of the far future. At the same time, bias-corrected seasonal forecasts allow us to use these models as a window into the near future. However, global water models remain highly uncertain and evaluating them remains challenging. Multiple pathways can be taken to reduce these uncertainties by collecting available knowledge in new ways and analyzing this data with new approaches. In this talk, I will outline new strategies for assessing these complex models differently and rigorously and develop more sustainable research software for a robust science.

Océane Foix
2024-10-02 00:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
From local travel time tomography to seismotectonic models.
Océane Foix, ISTerre, UGA, Grenoble, France
From the creation of seismic databases to seismic travel time tomography and seismic hazard, my aim is to present my career as a young researcher over the last 5 years. I have been able to study different tectonic systems and contexts, such as the deformation of the Vanuatu central subduction forearc (tomography), the seismo-volcanic crisis of Mayotte (tomography) and finally the seismic hazard of the Lesser Antilles subduction (seismotectonic model). At present, I’m using my knowledge to assess the effect of mantle wedge seismicity in the Lesser Antilles on seismic hazard calculations.

Lucie Alain and Agustin Scotti
2024-10-16 00:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Field stories from Eastern Greenland

Presenters Lucie Alain, Agustin Scotti
The DeepReservoir project aims to investigate the distribution and geometry of chlorite-coated intervals in the Early Jurassic Tilje Formation and its analogue in Eastern Greenland. This summer the DeepReservoir team had the chance to go to Jameson Land in eastern Greenland to collect data for the project. Come along to get a chance to see the amazing landscape of Liverpool Land and to hear about what animal were worst than polar bears.

Marianna Anichini
2024-10-30 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Marianna Anichini
Reaching the end of the world and back. Stories from the HiAOOS expedition in the high Arctic
Being at sea has always been my dream. Sailing in a sea covered by ice has been an experience that went beyond my expectations. Explorations of this kind are rare and can represent a milestone from personal and scientific perspectives. With some pictures, I will tell you the story of this expedition, how we can study seismic events in such remote places and try to describe emotions that fuel the passion for the work we do.

Maren Kjos Karlsen
2024-11-06 00:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
A NEW NATIONAL SEISMIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT FOR NORWAY
Maren Kjos Karlsen
Do we have earthquakes and do we need to care? An overview of present and past earthquakes and related shaking, our aims to forecast future activity and shaking, and what our preliminary results are telling us.

Isabelle Lecomte
2024-11-13 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Ground-Penetrating Radar: fun with rapid underground imaging!
Isabelle Lecomte
Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) is probably the most popular geophysical tool for shallow-underground imaging. Its range of application is wide and movies even portray it, e.g., in crime- (forensics) or archaeology-related films. Though using EM-waves instead of elastic ones, GPR’s acquisition principles and processing/imaging have much similarities with seismic. But EM-waves are extremely fast and getting images with GPR is thus a dream compared to seismic! This gives us a tool which is very handy for geophysical education in wave methods and signal processing, while being applicable to various ground-imaging issues as will be illustrated.

Mathilde Bøttger Sørensen
2024-11-20 00:15 - 13:00
EPOS-Norway – Research Infrastructure for Geohazards (EPOS-NG)
Mathilde Bøttger Sørensen
The EPOS-Norway – Research Infrastructure for Geohazards (EPOS-NG) will be established, starting from early 2025, with funding from the Research Council of Norway’s Infrastructure program. EPOS-NG aims to be the go-to infrastructure for research on geohazards in Norway (i.e., landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, and cryospheric hazards). Complementary to EPOS ERIC and building on research infrastructure developed during EPOS-Norway (EPOS-N) phase 1, EPOS-NG will establish new pools of instruments that are easily accessible to all geoscientists in Norway. We will develop an enhanced and extended state-of-the-art data portal to provide nationwide access to a range of geoscience data as well as computational and visualisation services. The EPOS-NG instrument pools include rapid-deployable seismometers, ocean bottom seismographs, Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Distributed Temperature and Strain Sensing instrumentation, Transient Electromagnetic measurement capacity, piezometers, self-potential sensors and ground-based interferometric radar systems. The new instruments will facilitate research on a wide range of processes including seismicity, slope stability and landslides, groundwater and soil conditions, permafrost and cryospheric processes. Combined with new services for tsunami hazard assessment, as well as novel datasets on InSAR displacement trends and historical and palaeoseismological events, new links can be established through comprehensive, multidisciplinary studies. Effective data integration and visualisation will be achieved via the EPOS-N portal, which was developed in EPOS-N phase 1 and will be substantially enhanced in close dialogue with the users in EPOS-NG. The portal combines data from distributed monitoring networks, innovative services for advanced data analysis and national databases within geosciences into a single national e-infrastructure, following FAIR principles. EPOS-NG thus represents a unifying nationwide research infrastructure, including all the relevant physical infrastructures and providing a national hub for solid Earth science data and services. In this presentation, I will present the plans for EPOS-NG and describe how the community can be involved in and benefit from the activities.

Sebastian Wolf
2024-12-04 00:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
How to invert extensional basins – modelling the influence of pre-collisional extension on 3D mountain belt architecture
Sebastian Wolf
The geological record shows that many orogens, like the Andes, Pyrenees, Atlas, and Greater Caucasus form to a large degree by inversion of pre-collisional extensional basins that are typically offset and show different degrees of basin linkage. However, the 3D dynamics of inverting offset extensional basins and their importance for mountain building remain poorly understood. To bridge that knowledge gap, we use 3D state-of-the-art geodynamic models coupled to a fluvial surface processes model to investigate the dynamics of extensional-basin inversion during continent-continent collision. We find that a) basins link during the extensional stage if basin off-set is not too large; b) inversion of off-set rift basins naturally tends to create opposite polarity subduction, which reverts the plan-view structure of the mountain belt; c) same-polarity subduction requires further weaknesses, but preserves the structure of the extensional basins in the mountain belt. The distribution and orientation of topography and fluvial valleys tracks the deep-structure and can be used as indicators. Based on these model characteristcs and backed by a force-balance analysis, we compare the model results to the Pyrenees, Atlas, and Greater Caucasus.

Albina Gilmullina
2024-12-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Cretaceous source to sink system on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
Albina Gilmullina
The several kilometers thick succession of Cretaceous strata on the Norwegian Continental Shelf bears witness to a period characterised by contemporaneous hinterland uplift, basin subsidence and high sedimentation rates. The northern part of the NCS – informally referred to as the Greater Barents Sea Basin (GBSB) – represented an epicontinental sea dominated by mud-dominated clinoforms exhibiting a wide range of progradational directions. Multiple source areas have thus been suggested based on paleocurrent measurements onshore Svalbard, seismic mapping, petrological analyses, as well as limited provenance data. Although the Lower Cretaceous succession has received considerable attention, Upper Cretaceous strata, which is severely eroded across much of the area, is under-explored. Therefore, volumetric calculations and an in-depth understanding of provenance variations for the whole Cretaceous succession of the GBSB are currently lacking.
In this study, we use >3500 2D seismic lines over the area of 1.500.000 km2 to map Cretaceous sequences from the Eastern and Western Barents Sea and calculate sediment input rates (megatons/year) for eight different seismic units spanning from the Valanginian to the Campanian. We provide new detrital zircon dates from the Lower Cretaceous succession onshore Svalbard. Collectively, this provides insights into sediment volumes, provenance and sediment supply variations during the Cretaceous in the GBSB.

Edoseghe Edwin Osagiede
2025-01-15 00:15 - 13:00
CO2 storage in unconventional geological units – preliminary data from fieldwork in Iceland along the Husavik-Tjornes Peninsula
Edoseghe Edwin Osagiede

Kurt Wogau
2025-01-22 00:15 - 13:00
The Little Karoo: The semi-arid paleolandscape inhabited by the first modern humans”.
Kurt Wogau
In southern Africa, past climate and landscape features could play a relevant role in the evolution of anatomically modern humans and their dispersal through the continental interior during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5(-71-130 ka) and MIS 4 (~71-57 ka). Our project will shed light on the terrestrial landscape inhabited by Middle Stone Age hunter-gatherers. To reach this aim, we will conduct our research in the Little Karoo, South Africa to assess the paleo-landscape evolution during diverse climatic events (e.g., MIS 5 and MIS 4). The sedimentary record of diverse natural archives such as pan systems, dune fields, and floodplains will be studied.

Thomas Theunissen
2025-01-29 12:15 - 13:00
Interaction of tectonics and surface process during oblique rifted margin formation. Insights from 3-D forward coupled geodynamic-surface process modelling.
Thomas Theunissen
The magma-poor passive rifted conjugate margins in the Southern Equatorial Atlantic, North Atlantic/Arctic oceans, and Northern Mozambique Channel display en-echelon extensional segments separated by long transform faults (>300 km), influenced by inherited weaknesses. Using advanced 3-D forward geodynamic modeling coupled with surface processes, we investigate the formation of oblique rifts and passive margins. Our focus is on pre-existing weaknesses parallel to the extension direction, exploring the system’s sensitivity to various erodibility factors. Key findings include: (1) erodibility within a low to moderate range has limited influence on the morpho-structural evolution of the oblique continental rift, (2) pure-strike slip faults reactivating transform weaknesses result in reduced topography, (3) major catchments sink in the inner corner at the tip of each extensional segments, and (4) hinterland drainage network capture along extensional segments is absent, controlled by isostatic rebound during rift flank drainage divide migration. This study enhances our understanding of the complex nterplay between inherited weaknesses, erodibility, and the evolving morphology of oblique rifted margins.

Kirabo E. Mugwanya
2025-02-12 00:15 - 13:00
Tectonic and Sedimentary Evolution of the Triassic Deposits on the Horda Platform, Norwegian Continental Shelf
Kirabo E. Mugwanya
The Horda platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf hosts major petroleum fields like Troll and CO₂ storage sites such as the Northern Lights. However, the Triassic deposits remain underexplored for reasons of low data coverage and quality. Using seismic and wireline data, this study illustrates the evolution of major faults and its role on the basin’s sedimentology. The Horda platform hosts over 5 km of rapidly deposited (c. 50 Ma) alluvial sediments, formed under a shifting arid to humid climate, with varying tectonic activity and potential rapid orogenic denudation. Tectono-stratigraphic reconstructions of the sub-basins are presented to illustrate the control of tectonic evolution on the spatial and temporal facies distribution and the stratigraphic architecture. A case of a mega-scale mass movement (?) driven by fault detachment and evidence of early Triassic erosional uniformity are additionally illustrated.

Robert Reinecke
2025-02-19 00:15 - 13:00
How to use an impossible map – uncertainties in modeling the global water cycle
Robert Reinecke
Global water models allow us to explore the terrestrial water cycle in an earth-sized digital laboratory to guide science and policy. These models simulate increasingly complex representations of different compartments, such as groundwater, and complex processes, such as seawater intrusion. They are coupled with other models, bringing us closer to a digital twin of Earth and enabling us to carry out complex impact assessments of the far future. At the same time, bias-corrected seasonal forecasts allow us to use these models as a window into the near future. However, global water models remain highly uncertain and evaluating them remains challenging. Multiple pathways can be taken to reduce these uncertainties by collecting available knowledge in new ways and analyzing this data with new approaches. In this talk, I will outline new strategies for assessing these complex models differently and rigorously and develop more sustainable research software for a robust science.

Giulio Di Toro
2025-03-05 12:15 - 13:00
Seismic cycle in the presence of hot and pressurized fluids
Giulio Di Toro
Geophysical evidences and the investigation of exposed faults exhumed from upper crustal depths indicate that earthquakes nucleate and propagate often in the presence of fluids at “hydrothermal conditions” typical of geothermal systems (temperature and fluid pressure: 150°C < T 25 MPa). However, also because of technical difficulties in performing rock deformation experiments under such extreme conditions, the evolution of frictional properties of fault materials that contribute to the seismic or aseismic behavior of the fault/fracture network is poorly known.
Here, motivated by the study of fault zones exhumed from 4-8 km depth, we will discuss the results (mechanical data, microstructural-mineralogical-geochemical analysis, etc.) of experiments performed with new devices which combine rotary shear machines and hydrothermal vessels. These experimental devices can reproduce hydrothermal conditions in the laboratory by imposing on simulated faults aseismic (nm/s) to seismic (m/s) slip rates and slip distances up to several meters in the presence of hot (up to 500°C) and pressurized (up to 70 MPa) fluids. Based on the results obtained with these devices, we will discuss fluid-rock interaction, pressure and temperature of the fluid and stress loading in earthquake nucleation and healing of faults of the upper crust (Bolfin fault zone, Atacama Fault System, Chile; Krafla geothermal system, Iceland).
The main objective of this multidisciplinary scientific approach is to reveal (i) the main factors responsible for the seismic and aseismic behavior of natural faults, (ii) how fractures and faults “heal” during the seismic cycle, and (iii) the deformation mechanisms that operate under hydrothermal conditions. These results could indicate new methods for a safer exploitation of deep geothermal reservoirs.

Eivind Olavson Straume
2025-03-19 12:15 - 13:00
The influence of paleogeography on Cenozoic ocean circulation and climate
Eivind Olavson Straume
Paleogeography, influenced by plate tectonics, mantle convection, volcanism, erosion, and sedimentation, cause large-scale ocean circulation and climate changes on geological timescales. Some of the most important paleogeographic changes are linked to opening and closing of key oceanic gateways connecting the world’s major oceanic basins. During the Cenozoic (66 – 0 Ma), several gateways opened and closed (e.g. the Atlantic – Arctic gateways, Tethys Seaway, West Siberian Seaway, and the Southern Ocean gateways), which played an important role in the complex transition from greenhouse to icehouse climate during this time interval. This presentation will mainly focus on the role of paleogeography of oceanic gateways and their impact on ocean circulation, climate and biogeography. I will present a new global Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the Cenozoic time, with updated regional reconstructions for the closure of the Tethys Seaway, West Siberian Seaway, and opening of the Atlantic – Arctic gateways. These regions were influenced by deep earth processes such as mantle convection and played a key role in shaping the modern global ocean circulation. I will present Earth system model experiments showing the simulated impact on ocean circulation and climate. Ultimately linking deep and solid earth changes, to changes in ocean circulation, climate, and biogeographic dispersals.
snapshot from an animation showing paleogeography and reconstructed mantle densities for the Eocene-Oligocene transition (34 Ma).
Eivind Olavson Straume – Biography (Using ChatGPT)
Dr. Eivind Olavson Straume is a Norwegian geoscientist specializing in paleoclimate, plate tectonics, and mantle dynamics. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, where he investigates the interactions between tectonics, oceanic gateways, and climate evolution over geological time scales.
Straume earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oslo (UiO) in 2020, defending his dissertation Paleoclimate in the Cenozoic Time: Quantifying the Role of North Atlantic Plate Tectonics and Mantle Processes. His research focuses on reconstructing past oceanic and atmospheric conditions using numerical modeling and geological data, particularly emphasizing the impact of plate tectonics on ocean circulation and climate variability.
He has contributed significantly to global paleobathymetric reconstructions, developing methodologies for estimating sediment thickness and modeling oceanic gateways’ influence on climate transitions. His work has been published in high-impact journals such as Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Beyond his academic research, Straume is an advocate for open science and data visualization. He co-founded s-Ink.org, an initiative aimed at making geoscience graphics more accessible. He has also participated in numerous scientific outreach events, sharing insights on plate tectonics, climate change, and Earth’s dynamic systems.
Currently based in Bergen, Norway, Dr. Straume continues his research at NORCE, collaborating with leading geoscientists to refine models of Earth’s climatic and geological evolution.
Main Collaborators and Ph.D. Supervisors of Eivind Olavson Straume
Ph.D. Supervisors (University of Oslo, CEED/Department of Geosciences)
Prof. Carmen Gaina (CEED, UiO) – Expert in plate tectonics and geodynamics.
Prof. Joseph Henry Lacasce (Department of Geosciences, UiO) – Specialist in ocean dynamics and climate modeling.
Prof. Kerim Hestnes Nisancioglu (Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, UiB) – Focuses on paleoclimate and ocean circulation.
Main Collaborators
Throughout his career, Dr. Straume has worked closely with several leading geoscientists, including:
Grace Shephard (UiO, CEED) – Collaborated on geodynamic and tectonic reconstructions.
Fabio Crameri (UiO, CEED) – Worked on scientific visualization and geoscience graphics.
Sergei Medvedev (UiO, CEED) – Contributed to paleobathymetry and geodynamic modeling.
Aleksi Nummelin (UiB) – Collaborated on climate modeling and ocean dynamics.
Bernhard Steinberger (GFZ Potsdam) – Worked on mantle convection and dynamic topography.
Claudio Faccenna (Roma Tre University) – Studied the influence of mantle dynamics on paleogeography.
Zhongshi Zhang (NORCE, UiB) – Focused on paleoclimate simulations.
Carmen Gaina (UiO) – Ongoing collaboration on Arctic and Atlantic paleogeography.
Agatha M. de Boer (Stockholm University) – Worked on ocean circulation and climate reconstruction.
Stephanie Werner (UiO, CEED) – Collaborated on tectonics and mantle dynamics.
His work also involves contributions from various institutions, including the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (UiB), NORCE, and international geoscience organizations.

Christopher Campbell Di Paolo
2025-03-26 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Searching for lacustrine tsunami deposits with the aid of a numerical model
Christopher Campbell Di Paolo
A Mw ca. 5.9 earthquake occurred in 1601 CE in central Switzerland which triggered multiple subaqueous and subaerial landslides in and around Lake Lucerne. One of these subaqueous landslides triggered a tsunami which hit the city of Lucerne. While this tsunami was documented historically, physical evidence remains sparse. Using the numerical modeling software BASEMENT, we simulated the tsunami’s sediment transport. With this model as a guide, we then took 9 sediment cores in areas of interest. We link an event layer which exists in 4 of the 9 cores to the 1601 CE event. The program BASEMENT proved to be effective at simulating lacustrine tsunami sediment transport.

Julien Vadnais
2025-04-09 12:15 - 13:00 | Kontinentalsokkelen (2G16e), Realfagbygget, Allégaten 41, Bergen, 5007, Norway
Deep transfer learning for mapping rare Arctic oil seeps observed from satellites
Julien Vadnais – Department of Earth Science, UiB

Abstract
Natural seepage is a significant contributor to marine oil inputs. Remote and intermittent seeps are difficult to monitor in the field, yet oil slicks can be observed by spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) because they reduce backscatter, creating potential for automatic mapping. In mapping tasks like segmentation, deep learning models excel, albeit needing large amounts of labeled images. To deal with scarcity of labeled images, transfer learning is an approach commonly used in computer vision, though still underutilized in remote sensing.
Different Sentinel-1 acquisition modes, in the Arctic compared to elsewhere, complicate direct model transfer for oil slick mapping. Here, we present a use-case where transfer learning enhances the segmentation of natural oil slicks, most notably in challenging and noisy images. Our method proves efficient even with limited training images, offering new prospects for studying poorly understood or yet undiscovered hydrocarbon seeps.
