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Draft Research Strategy Document for the ‘Subsurface’ Research Group
VISION
Major advances in subsurface Earth science, and its application to pressing problems of economic and
societal relevance, now depend critically on the integration of information and insights from three
hitherto traditionally separate fields. These are: the physics and chemistry of Earth materials and
fluids; real-time observations of the Earth’s response to stress, material and heat transfer through
geophysics, geochemistry and remote sensing; and the understanding of the evolution through time of
the Earth’s crust and mantle that comes from imaging the subsurface, or inferring its structure,
composition and internal processes from surface observation and sampling, modelling and simulation.
None of these approaches alone can generate real understanding. This interdependence also sets the
parameters for the range of expertise and the curricula needed to teach the next generation of Earth
scientists.
This interdisciplinary capability is the strength of the Subsurface Group. It has internationally recognised staff in all three areas. It uses state-of-the-art facilities to characterise the fundamental
materials involved, and high-performance computing resources for complex system modelling,
database management and interpretation - for example the only industry-standard suite of seismic
work-stations in Scotland for hydrocarbon research.
AIM
To understand the way the Earth’s subsurface works at scales, from atoms to plates, and from seconds
to billions of years,
To apply this knowledge to practical problems. Current and planned examples include natural hazards
earthquakes and volcanoes); hydrocarbon exploration and production; groundwater management and
land remediation; pollutant dispersion; mineral exploration; carbon dioxide sequestration and
weathering of natural and building materials.
To use a variety of field, laboratory, analytical, experimental and computational methods to provide
the most up-to-date information on the surface and subsurface, to develop testable and predictive
hypotheses, and to provide a better understanding of events in the past.
RATIONALE
Societal and economic needs are driving much of the current enormous growth in technical capability
and new data, and this is producing major advances in understanding and novel approaches to
fundamental problems in Earth Science. For example, the Ocean Drilling Programme required the
parallel development of deep water drilling technology. At the same time, the programme has
transformed our understanding of both continental margins where oil and gas accumulate and global
climate change, both of which have direct implications for human society. Our work on fluid-rock
interaction is in part the beneficiary of techniques, equipment and theory developed to solve practical
problems of water quality, earthquake mechanisms, semi-conductor materials and the origin of ore
deposits. Its results contribute to these problems and simultaneously increase our understanding of
more fundamental Earth processes. The Group recognises and exploits this pervasive interplay of the
pure and the applied and acknowledges that funding bodies will increasingly expect the links to be
visible. This new epoch of data availability provides a big challenge, but also an unprecedented
opportunity to solve long-standing problems of an academic and practical nature alike.Our rationale is
to use existing techniques, and develop new ones, to add to and interpret this expanding database on
the ground beneath our feet.
STRUCTURE
To add value to research programmes driven by individuals, we will attack strategic questions at
several organisational levels. A hierarchy is envisioned that is understandable to the outside world
(including prospective students as well as policy-makers) while retaining the disciplines within the
broad area. A few examples are given here.
Group: Encourage the setting up of new internal common-interest groups, for example in the detailed
characterisation of faults, fault populations and fault mechanisms, through numerical modelling,
surface mapping, seismic sequence stratigraphy, experimental simulation under controlled conditions,
and detailed microstructural and chemical analysis of laboratory and field samples.
School: Collaborate with the Earth Observatory e.g. for deformation studies, and with the Maths/
Physics group e.g. for data processing and imaging projects. We foresee a strong synergy with the
surface processes group. It is not possible to understand surface processes solely from surface
observations – for example the response of the surface to glacial loading, and the transport of
anthropogenic pollutants in the subsurface).
College: Collaborate with, e.g., the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions (CSEC), EPCC and the
e-science initiative for high-performance computing, CLARRC for pollution studies.
National: Maintain and build on our existing international excellence in analytical techniques to
characterise earth materials in collaboration with SUERC at East Kilbride. Collaborate with Scottish
research centres on subsurface science and its application to the petroleum industry. The group has
been instrumental in attracting major research funding (NERC, EU, JIF etc.) for the establishment and
development of internationally-leading geochemical (e.g. EMMAC) and experimental (CSEC)
facilities that serve as national centres and serve the research programmes of other research groups.
International: Participate in and continue to lead large-scale projects, for example the deep drilling of
the Ontong-Java plateau, the largest igneous province in the world, and hence determine the influence
of mantle processes on the evolution of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere.
FORWARD LOOK
We have identified strategic areas where we could add value, or initiate new directions with key
appointments:
Exploration geophysics – to maintain our strength in Petroleum Geoscience, and to exploit the
increasing hydrocarbon-related database on the subsurface.
Earth materials and interior processes - to maintain excellence in determining mineral and rock
behaviour and properties under various pressure, temperature, and fluid conditions, both natural and
man-made.
Fluid dynamics and reactive flow in deforming porous media – to complement our existing
geochemical and experimental strengths with a numerical modelling capability.
Satellite geodesy – to bridge the gap between tectonics, geophysics, surface deformation and mapping
studies within the school, and also to exploit analysis of large databases using e-science.
Deformation and tectonics - to provide a natural bridge from the surface and near-surface brittle
regime to interior ductile processes at higher temperature, and hence relate surface deformations to
mantle processes.
Carbonate reservoirs and aquifers – to respond positively to pressure by the global oil, gas and water
industries to achieve a better academic understanding of these important subsurface entities. More
than 60% of the world’s proven oil & gas reserves are contained in carbonate reservoirs. This would
form a prime case for an external, industry-sponsored post.
SEMINARS
A new Thursday Subsurface seminar series will start in January 2004. The starting point should be
accessible to final-year undergraduates to maintain breadth and audience, at the same time providing a
forum for cutting-edge developments in special research topics. Visiting academics will be
encouraged to contribute.