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Project overview

The NERC-funded Characterisation of Major Overburden Leakage Pathways above Sub-sea floor CO2 Storage Reservoirs in the North Sea (CHIMNEY) project investigated the risks of leaks from storing carbon dioxide (CO2) under the seabed. CHIMNEY involved investigators from the University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (NOC), and University of Edinburgh. These investigators worked closely with project partners GEOMAR, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CGG and Applied Acoustics. A multi-channel seismic dataset, together with multibeam bathymetry was acquired during RRS James Cook cruise JC152 (August - September 2017), around the Scanner Pockmark Complex in the North Sea.

Staff

Lead researcher

Professor Jonathan Bull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Fluid Flow and Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Verification
  • Marine Geophysics
Other researchers

Professor Tim Minshull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Continental breakup and the onset of seafloor spreading
  • Methane hydrate beneath the seafloor and its role in the Earth system
  • Exploration geophysics: seismic and electromagnetic imaging

Emeritus Professor David Sanderson

Professor Tim Henstock

Professor of Geophysics

Professor Juerg Matter

Professor of Geoengineering&Carbon Manag

Professor Rachael James

Professor of Geochemistry

Research interests

  • Enhanced rock weathering and other techniques for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
  • Novel isotopic signatures of biogeochemical cycling, including iron, chromium, lithium and magnesium, and the response of biogeochemcal cycles to global environmental change
  • Exploration for new sources of metals and elements critical for emerging green technologies, including lithium and the rare earth elements

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Geochemistry

We use advanced facilities to perform the precise and accurate analysis of the chemical and isotopic composition of Earth materials.

Geology and Geophysics

We research a wide range of societally impactful areas of geology and geophysics for a sustainable future. The latest facilities and technology development support our activities.

Research outputs

Constraints on fluid flow pathways from shear-wave splitting in and around an active fluid-escape structure: Scanner Pockmark, North Sea
Adam Robinson,
Gaye Bayrakci,
Calum Macdonald,
Timothy Minshull,
Jonathan Bull,
Mark Chapman,
Timothy Henstock,
& Ben Callow
, 2022 , Geophysical Journal International , 231 (2) , 1164--1195
DOI: 10.1093/gji/ggac197
Type: article
Permeability heterogeneity of sandstone intrusion fluid-escape systems, Panoche Hills, California: Implications for sedimentary basins globally
Ben Callow,
Ismael Falcon-Suarez,
Jonathan Bull,
Thomas Gernon,
Sean Ruffell,
Antonio Grippa,
& Andrew Hurst
, 2022 , Sedimentology , 69 (6) , 2463--2485
DOI: 10.1111/sed.12997
Type: article
Characterising the permeability and structure of fluid-escape conduits in sedimentary basins - application to geological carbon sequestration
Ben James Callow
, 2021
Type: thesis
Impact of CO2 leakage from sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage on sediment and porewater geochemistry
Anna Lichtschlag,
Matthias Haeckel,
David Olierook,
Kate Peel,
Anita Flohr,
Christopher Pearce,
Chiara Marieni,
Rachael James,
& D.P. Connelly
, 2021 , International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control , 109
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2021.103352
Type: article
Seismic anisotropy within an active fluid flow structure: Scanner Pockmark, North Sea
G. Bayrakci,
B. Callow,
J. M. Bull,
T. A. Minshull,
G. Provenzano,
L. J. North,
C. Macdonald,
A. H. Robinson,
T. Henstock,
& M. Chapman
, 2021 , Frontiers in Earth Science , 9 , 626416
DOI: 10.3389/feart.2021.626416
Type: article
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