The agency is located in Trondheim with an office in Tromsø, with about 200 employees. It is subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries.
This study evaluates the source rock potential, organic matter input, and depositional environments of Mioceneaged sediments in the eastern Nordic Seas. It focuses on ODP/IODP Sites 909, 985, and U1572, two exploration wells (7316/5-1 and 6608/10-1), and oil seeps offshore western Svalbard. Integrated marine palynological, biomarker, and geochemical analyses indicate a mainly Early to Middle Miocene age and a mixed terrestrialmarine origin of the sedimentary organic matter and associated oil seeps. Angiosperm-derived biomarkers, especially triterpenoids like oleananes and oleanenes, are abundant and help link seeping oils to deltaic terrestrial sources. Depositional settings ranged from oxic in the Fram Strait (Hole 909C) to dysoxic or anoxic in southern Sites (Holes 985A and U1572B), influenced by the semi-enclosed Nordic Seas. Geochemical indicators such as sulfur content, TOC/S ratios, and Pr/Ph values reflect variations in bottom water oxygenation and sediment conditions. Terrestrial organic input is linked to Miocene deltaic systems, likely formed by tectonic uplift in East Greenland, the Barents Sea, and central Norway. Basin modeling in the southwestern Barents Sea, using seismic and well data, shows that Miocene source rocks have reached maturity levels sufficient for hydrocarbon generation, especially beneath thick Plio-Pleistocene glacial overburden. The presence of oleanene and oleanane in both boreholes and oil seeps supports the conclusion that these Miocene source rocks are regionally widespread and part of an active petroleum system.
Sea surface temperature is a key indicator of climate change on Earth and is central to all related modelling endeavours. However, sea surface temperature is notoriously difficult to reconstruct accurately in the geological record, especially for the low temperatures of the polar regions, which occupy one-third of the world’s oceans. Here we show that a sea surface temperature proxy based on two isomeric diatom lipid biomarkers can be applied to marine sediment archives to reconstruct temperatures in the range −1 to 14 °C for the Arctic and Antarctic using a single calibration. For both regions, our datasets span timeframes from recent decades to the Younger Dryas/Holocene, and we also showcase a 750 kyr record from the Fram Strait, the major gateway between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. We anticipate that this lipid biomarker-based proxy may become a standard component of the palaeoclimate toolkit, especially for the polar regions. A biomarker sea surface temperature proxy based on two isomeric diatom lipids can reconstruct a range of sea surface temperatures for both the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, according to analyses of sea surface temperature reconstructions across polar seas
This study investigates the evolution of the isotopic composition of fluids in equilibrium with polymineralic fault rocks from the Kornos-Aghios Ioannis and Partenomythos fault zones on Lemnos Island (North Aegean Sea, Greece). Using a multi-method approach by combining stable isotope analysis (delta D, delta O-18), K-Ar geochronology on fault rocks, and X-ray diffraction of distinct grain-size fractions (from <0.1 to 10 mu m) separated from clay-rich gouges, this study examines grain-size dependent isotopic fluid signatures preserved in clay-rich gouges. Coarse fractions record equilibrium water compositions with delta D-w between -96.5 parts per thousand and - 61.6 parts per thousand and delta O-18(w) from -2.5 parts per thousand to 4.0 parts per thousand, whereas fine fractions yield increased delta D-w (from -54.6 parts per thousand to -45.4 parts per thousand) and delta O-18(w) (2.0 parts per thousand to 3.7 parts per thousand) values, approaching modern meteoric water signatures. These trends reflect progressive fluid-rock interaction within the fault zones, initially involving hot hydrothermal fluids (T > 130 degrees C) in Aquitanian-Burdigalian times followed by subsequent re-equilibration at shallower crustal levels with meteoric waters (similar to 60-65 degrees C). Authigenic illite-smectite in the <0.1 mu m fraction of one fault gouge yields a similar to 16 Ma K-Ar age, marking the latest episode of recorded faulting and meteoric fluid infiltration. To resolve the complex isotopic signals arising from polymineralic clay-rich fault rocks, PolyFrac was developed as a quantitative spreadsheet-based tool. It integrates hydrogen and oxygen isotope data, X-ray diffraction-derived detrital and authigenic mineral proportions, and fluid temperature estimates to reconstruct fluid histories in polymineralic systems.
Remote sensing technologies have revolutionized the field of rock engineering by enabling high-precision multi-scale data acquisition needed for geotechnical and engineering geological applications. This study explores the integrated application of terrestrial and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing techniques to overcome the limitations of individual techniques, providing a hierarchical approach to capturing the structural and geotechnical properties of rock masses in small-scale (several meters to tens of meters) natural slopes and slope cuts. The combined datasets enable the quantification of fundamental parameters for rock mass characterization. UAV LiDAR’s ability to penetrate vegetation and cover extensive, inaccessible areas is complemented by the millimeter scale resolution of terrestrial laser scanning and the submillimeter precision of a handheld metrology-grade LiDAR, facilitating detailed analyses of a wide range of rock mass elements from macroscopic structural features to millimetre-scale discontinuity surface roughness. The laser scanning techniques are complemented by photogrammetric and thermal analyses. This integrated approach provides information to create robust geomechanical models that support slope stability analysis, failure mechanism prediction and the optimization of engineering designs in complex and dynamic geological environments. The findings in this paper highlight the importance of multi-sensor strategies to achieve accurate, scalable, and context specific rock mass characterization while also discussing the challenges, limitations, and potential engineering applications of each technique.
