| |
Welcome to GANS (Gas Hydrates on the Norway - Barents Sea - Svalbard margin)
GANS was an initiative by six research institutions and the Norwegian
Deepwater Programme, SEABED III. The project was lead by the Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, and was formally ended 31. December 2011.
The main aim of GANS is to
quantify gas accumulations in the 1) form of hydrates in sediments on
the Norway - Barents Sea - Svalbard (NBS) margin; including an
assessment of their dynamics and impacts on the seabed, and 2) their
response on sediments and biota, to provide knowledge vital for a safe
exploitation in oil and gas production. The overall objective is to
make a coordinated effort on a national level to achieve the main
objective by the following sub-goals:
- Geophysical characterisation of gas hydrates
- Geological and geochemical setting of gas hydrate reservoirs and seeps
- Gas hydrate dissociation and its effects on geomechanical properties
- Theoretical and experimental evaluation of gas hydrate dynamics
Three contrasting target areas are of particular interest for field
studies and experiments: (1) the mid-Norwegian margin at Nyegga, a national laboratory for gas hydrate research, (2) the Svalbard margin frontier area; important for understanding the geological controls on gas hydrates and fluids, and (3) the Barents Sea,
a prolific area with possible occurrence of gas hydrates and clear
evidence for active cold seeps. Our initiative allows for the
establishment of an acknowledged Norwegian academia-industry network on
gas hydrates where education of a new generation of interdisciplinarily trained scientists will be a central task. |
