The Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) hosts 100,000s of active natural occurring methane seeps (NOMS) that are sustaining oases of unique ecosystems. Numerous well-associated methane seeps (WAMS) are also found at, or in the vicinity of numerous plugged and abandoned (P&A) wells. The Norwegian Continental Shelf hosts ~8000 wells, ~2,000 of these are P&A, and another 2,245 in operation heading for decommissioning in the next decades. The mechanisms controlling the faunal distribution around wells with WAMS are poorly known and dedicated studies are being conducted.
In the framework of the WELLFATE project and in collaboration with the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, a large set of multidisciplinary data has been gathered from several of the studied locations to study the presence of methane emissions from the seafloor and NOMS and WAMS. In addition to a large dataset of ROV seafloor images, WELLFATE provides access to a broad collection of seafloor samples collected at and around WAMS.
We are looking for Master students with a general interest in marine science. The MSc projects will focus on analysing and reconstructing environmental and ecological conditions around abandoned/decommissioned oil and gas wells in the Norwegian Sea. The benthic environment at such sites is often impacted by gas seepage (mainly methane), resuspension of fine-grained sediments, and micro-structured habitats (including low-oxic spots or bacterial mats).
This project will assess collected surface and sub-surface sediments to document living (rose Bengal-stained) meiofauna (mainly benthic foraminifera and nematode morphospecies) and related environmental parameters (e.g., TOC, TN, stable C- and N-isotopes, grain size).
This project welcomes candidates interested in environmental and ecological impact assessments, biomonitoring and ecology of seafloor organisms and will provide the opportunity to work in collaboration with researchers at UiO, UiT, IFE and SODIR.
What you will learn:
- Benthic faunal analysis: you will gain hands-on experience in processing and analysing seafloor sediment samples for meiofauna, particularly picking, identifying, and classifying benthic foraminifera and/or nematode morphospecies using microscopic techniques. Additional documentation of species based on stereo- and electron microscopy is optional.
- Analytical techniques and interpretation of water column, sedimentary and geochemical data: you will learn to measure and interpret key environmental parameters that control benthic ecosystems.
- Integrating ROV Images: You will learn how to interpret ROV seafloor videos and images to provide spatial context for your geochemical and biological findings.
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