04 Sep Upgrade for UiT the Arctic University of Norway
Geological research into paleoclimates, glacier dynamics, sub-marine landslides and sub-seafloor gases are just a few of the major research activities that go on at the Department of Geosciences at UiT the Arctic University of Norway. As these methods are dependent on the comprehensive analysis of sediment cores, these studies involve the use of high-tech geological equipment including a Geotek multi-sensor core logging system and an X-ray system.
UiT MSCL-S in lab
For over 20 years, Geotek Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL-S) no. 40 has provided comprehensive analysis, collecting valuable petrophysical measurements that uncover marine and lacustrine sediment properties through an array of sensor technology including; density, p-wave velocity and magnetic susceptibility. Complementing this system is the younger Geotek ScoutXcan, which has been highly utilised over the years producing 2D x-ray radiography; a technique used to expose the core sample’s internal structure, uncovering lithological variations, bioturbation and ice-rafted debris. After logging several kilometres of core, UiT opted to upgrade their Geotek ScoutXcan to the latest technology; laminography. Laminography is a complex, but a highly valuable technique which Geotek are introducing to the Geoscience community. It allows pertinent 3D information to be extracted from only a single 2D x-ray scan.
Undeformed (A) and deformed (B) glacimarine mud from NE Greenland coastal area. Black “dots” in A are ice-rafted material, in B an upper right – lower left oriented fault is seen at two levels. Left scale of the images is in cm. The images were provided by UiT the Arctic University of Norway.
UiT’s MSCL-S has also been upgraded, undergoing a complete refurbishment, which included the latest track, electronics, and P-wave velocity sensors, whilst using their original gamma density, magnetic susceptibility and spectrophotometer sensors. The upgraded system is now better equipped to extract the maximum amount of data per core samples through a non-destructive approach.
Being part of the world’s northernmost university, research at the Department of Geosciences focuses around areas of high latitudes, particularly Polar Regions. Approximately 95% of the samples analysed are marine, with the remaining 5% lake sediments. As paleoclimate and limnological research often require extremely high resolutions to extract small variations in core composition, the Geotek systems are the perfect fit for an investigation into the fine-scale resolution scanning of these sediments.
UiT ScoutXcan in lab
Throughout the years, the ScoutXcan at UiT has been involved in a great number of projects collaborating with a variety of institutes, ranging from large-scale research centres, e.g. the Norwegian Centre of Excellence CAGE (Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate), and ARCEx (Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration), to small scale projects with national and international collaborators. Occasionally, interesting challenges present themselves in the form of archaeological objects from the The Arctic University Museum of Norway, these can be objects such as Viking swords or arrows.
The new Geotek upgrades are essential for performing this type of sediment-core analyses that not only provide high-resolution petrophysical datasets, but also address the relevant research questions on paleoclimates, glacier dynamics, submarine landslides and sub-seafloor gases.
Please get in touch if you would like to find out how you can upgrade your system or have any other questions!