Paneuropean R&D on very large offshore wind turbines: the hiprwind project

Peer Reviewe

Underexplored continental shelf gateways: timing, mechanisms and role of SW Barents Sea Gateway, Norwegian Arctic

Abstract of presentation given at the OCEANIC GATEWAYS: MODERN AND ANCIENT ANALOGUES AND THEIR CONCEPTUAL AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS Conference, organised by The Geological Society of London, London, 23-25 November 2022.Ocean gateways connecting ocean basins are crucial for water and heat circulation, which influence global temperature, climate evolution and sediment distribution. While deep-water gateways have been a major research focus by the community, very little attention has been drawn to shallower gateways located on the continental shelves, where such circulation also takes place. In this study, we investigate the evolution of a shallow gateway in SW Barents Sea that presently connects NE Atlantic and Arctic oceans. This gateway contributes to about half of the Atlantic–Arctic water exchange, whereas the other half is occurring through the deeper Fram Strait Gateway. When and how this SW Barents Sea Gateway formed are debated and still poorly understood. Outcomes from this study will thus be relevant for regional and global models of ocean circulation. Moreover, this study will contribute to climate evolution models over longer timescale in a climate sensitive region where an Arctic amplification of warming is presently seen

Paleobathymetric reconstructions of the SW Barents Seaway and their implications for Atlantic–Arctic ocean circulation

Unravelling past, large-scale ocean circulation patterns is crucial for deciphering the longterm global paleoclimate. Here we apply numerical modelling to reconstruct the detailed paleobathymetry-topography of the southwestern inlet of the Barents Seaway that presently connects the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Subaerial topography was likely enough to block Atlantic Water from entering the Barents Seaway in the earliest Eocene (c. 55 Ma). The water may have entered in the middle Eocene (c. 47 Ma) as observed from major basin subsidence, but paleotopographic highs to the east may have hindered connections between the two oceans. From the Oligocene (c. 33 Ma) until the onset of the Quaternary (c. 2.7 Ma), basin shallowing and regional shelf uplift blocked Atlantic Water from entering the Barents Seaway. Our results imply that the Fram Strait remained the sole gateway for Atlantic Water into the Arctic Ocean since its opening in the Miocene until the Quaternary

A multi-source-to-sink system in a dynamic plate tectonic setting: the Cenozoic of the Barents Sea, Norwegian Arctic

Abstract of an oral presentation at the 61st British Sedimentological Resarch Group Annual Meeting, Southampton, 6-8 December 2022.When multiple source areas are located on a continuously moving plate margin relative to a sink, the signal propagation in the source-to-sink system may vary significantly in time and space. How fast and severe the impact of tectonics and climate is on sediment erosiontransfer-deposition in this dynamic setting is still not well understood. Similarly, how do we quantify the relative sediment contribution from each source area? Here, we use a forward stratigraphic modelling technique to constrain key controlling parameters in basin filling in relation to the Cenozoic successions of the Barents Sea in the Norwegian Arctic. The Cenozoic evolution of the Barents Sea shelf is strongly linked to the breakup between the Greenland and the Eurasian plates at c. 55 Ma, which led to the development of highs and basins along the margins of the Barents Sea. This configuration resulted in the deposition of progradational wedges and submarine fans (c. 40 Ma) in the Sørvestsnaget Basin. Subsequent plate reorganization caused a major shelf uplift (c. 33 Ma) and opening of the Fram Strait (c. 17 Ma) and affected the sedimentary processes and deposits in the sink (including contourites) now observable in seismic and borehole data. Moreover, Cenozoic successions were deposited under different extreme climate settings ranging from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) to icehouse conditions during the Quaternary glaciations (c. <2.7 Ma). A major increase in sediment supply resulting from glacial erosion is reflected in the deposition of a series of trough mouth fans along the continental margin. We present preliminary results of an ongoing project modelling this source-to-sink system, and discuss what factors control sediment erosion, transfer, and basin filling

The clinical diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease – reuse of electronic medical record data from 189 patients visiting a Swedish university hospital emergency department

BACKGROUND: The pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) diagnosis is mostly based on clinical findings. However, few studies have examined the clinical basis for the diagnostics of PID, which was the aim of this study. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed of 189 out-patients diagnosed as having PID at the obstetric and gynecological emergency department of a Swedish university hospital. Data on symptoms, signs, pelvic examination and laboratory tests were extracted from the electronic medical records in comparison with the diagnostic criteria of the PID Guideline of the US Center of Disease Control from 2002 (CDC 2002 Guidelines). RESULTS: Eight symptoms in varying combinations were associated with the PID diagnosis. Most of them are mentioned in the CDC 2002 Guidelines. Detected rates of C. Trachomatis (CT) and N. Gonorrhoeae (NG) were 5% and 0%, respectively, among the tested patients (CT = 52% and NG = 12%). The C-reactive protein was normal in the majority of tested patients. CONCLUSION: The clinical basis for the diagnostics of PID was largely in accordance with the criteria in the CDC 2002 Guidelines. The limited number of CT tests performed is somewhat disappointing, considering the fact that effective disease prevention includes widespread CT screening. Further studies in different settings are needed in order to analyze how the testing rate for CT can be improved in clinical praxis

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes