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 researchers

Professor Jonathan Bull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science
Research interests
  • Fluid Flow and Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Verification
  • Marine Geophysics
Connect with Jonathan

Email: bull@soton.ac.uk

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
Connect with Tim

Email: tmin@soton.ac.uk

Emeritus Professor David Sanderson

Connect with David

Email: D.J.Sanderson@soton.ac.uk

Professor Tim Henstock

Professor of Geophysics
Research interests
  • Applying Physics to understand processes within the Earth system
  • Imaging Earth structure on scales of 0.1m to 1000km
  • Active tectonic processes
Connect with Tim

Email: T.J.Henstock@soton.ac.uk

Professor Juerg Matter

Professor of Geoengineering&Carbon Manag
Connect with Juerg

Email: J.Matter@southampton.ac.uk

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
Connect with Rachael

Email: R.H.James@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Multiscale characterisation of chimneys/pipes: fluid escape structures within sedimentary basins  
Adam Robinson, Ben James Callow, Christoph Böttner, Naima Karolina Yilo, Giuseppe Provenzano, Ismael Himar Falcon-Suarez, Hector Marin Moreno, Anna Lichtschlag, Gaye Bayrakci, Romina Gehrmann, Lou Parkes, Ben Roche, Umer Saleem, Bettina Schramm, Malin Waage, Aude Lavayssiere, Jianghui Li, Farid Jedari Eyvazi, Sourav Sahoo, Christian Deusner, Elke Kossel, Timothy Minshull, Christian Berndt, Jonathan Bull, Marcella Dean, Rachael James, Mark Chapman, Angus I. Best, Stefan Bünz, Baixin Chen, Douglas Connelly, Judith Elger, Matthias Haeckel, Timothy Henstock, Jens Karstens, Calum Macdonald, Juerg Matter, Laurence J North & Benedict Reinardy, 2021, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 106
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103245
Type: article
Characterising the permeability and structure of fluid-escape conduits in sedimentary basins - application to geological carbon sequestration
2021
Type: thesis
Experimental assessment of the stress-sensitivity of combined elastic and electrical anisotropy in shallow reservoir sandstones
Ismael Himar Falcon-suarez, Laurence North, Ben Callow, Gaye Bayrakci, Jon Bull & Angus Best, 2020, Geophysics, 85(5), MR271-MR283
DOI: 10.1190/geo2019-0612.1
Type: article
Broadband acoustic inversion for gas flux quantification - application to a methane plume at Scanner Pockmark, central North Sea
Jianghui Li, Ben Roche, Jonathan Bull, Paul White, Timothy Leighton, Giuseppe Provenzano, Marus Dewar & Timothy Henstock, 2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(9)
DOI: 10.1029/2020JC016360
Type: article
Optimal X-ray micro-CT image based methods for porosity and permeability quantification in heterogeneous sandstones
Ben Callow, Ismael Falcon-Suarez, Hector Marin-Moreno, Jonathan M. Bull & Sharif Ahmed, 2020, Geophysical Journal International, 223(2), 1210-1229
DOI: 10.1093/gji/ggaa321
Type: article
Attenuation of receiver ghosts in variable-depth streamer high-resolution seismic reflection data
Giuseppe Provenzano, Timothy Henstock, Jonathan Bull & Gaye Bayrakci, 2020, Marine Geophysical Researches, 41(2)
DOI: 10.1007/s11001-020-09407-9
Type: article
Transport properties of saline CO2 storage reservoirs with unconnected fractures from brine-CO2 flow-through tests
Andrea Muñoz-Ibáñez, Ismael Himar Falcon-Suarez, Héctor Marín-Moreno, Jordi Delgado-Martín & Peter Mackin, 2019, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 184
DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106551
Type: article