DTI Strategic Environmental Assessment Area 4 (SEA4) : sub seabed geology

The SEA 4 region is underlain by continental crust situated on the north-western part of the Eurasian tectonic plate. The oldest continental crust >590Ma (Pre-Cambrian) of interest to oil production, it is divided by a major fault, the Moine Thrust, into ages ranging in age from >2500Ma (Archaean) to the west in which potentially commercial hydrocarbons been discovered and 2500 - 590 Ma (Proterozoic) to the east which is not currently prospective for commerciallyproduced hydrocarbons. The <590Ma sedimentary basins and intervening highs have evolved from pre-, syn- and postdepositional responses to deformation during crustal compression and extension. Many of the modern regional crustal structures retain a NE-SW trend, inherited from events 440-410Ma year ago (Caledonian Orogeny). The results from <65Ma regional NW-SE trending deformation events are also included within the major basin structural configurations. During 60-50 Ma (Late Paleocene to Early Eocene) the region was affected by uplift and in the NW by extrusion of thick volcanic lavas and intrusion of igneous sills. Interactions between historically significant shifts of long-term global climate cooling, an increase in the short-term periodicity and intensity of global climate change and changes to the rates and orientation of crust deformation have been particularly important from 25Ma to the present day (Neogene to Quaternary). These interactions have driven global-to-local changes to basin geological structure, marine circulation, sea level and sediment supply and removal rates and have resulted in the evolutionary changes to submarine basin geometries and lithologies. The modern seabed habitat has thus resulted from the remoulding of inherited basin geometries and lithologies by the processes affecting seabed. The structural history of the region has created a wide variety of potential hydrocarbon trapping mechanisms. The 154-136Ma (Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian to Ryazanian) Kimmeridge Clay Formation is the principal source rock of the area. The Foinaven and Schiehallion oilfields started production in late 1997 and 1998 respectively both from 60-55Ma (Upper Paleocene) sandstone reservoirs. Geological and technical problems have so far prevented the development of the massive 440-390Ma (Devono-Carboniferous) Clair Field which is the largest undeveloped oilfield on the UK continental shelf. Other hydrocarbon accumulations have been discovered in 245-208Ma (Triassic), 208-146Ma (Jurassic) and 146-65Ma (Cretaceous) intervals in the West Shetland area in the most prospective parts of the SEA 4 region

Rockall Continental Margin Report. Final geological report (5 volumes)

The Rockall Continental Margin Project was a 3-year research programme, undertaken between April 1992 and March 1995, designed to investigate the geology and resource potential of part of the frontier area west of Scotland. The programme was funded by a consortium comprising the British Geological Survey (BGS) and 8 exploration companies - BP, British Gas, Conoco, EE Caledonia, Elf, Enterprise, Esso and Mobil. The study has focused on the central and northern Rockall Trough, although several long transect lines were run across the Rockall Plateau and into the Iceland Basin to provide a margin-wide assessment of the geological framework. Over the duration of the project, multichannel seismic, gravity, magnetic and bathymetry data, together with boreholes and shallow-sample information were acquired by the consortium. These data form the basis of this 5-volume report. A descriptiono f the geology and prospectivityo f the surveyed area comprises volume 1, whilst the data on which the geological interpretation is based, including biostratigraphy, petrology and geochemistry of the boreholes and shallow samples, are presented in volumes 2 to 5. The widespread distribution of Upper Cretaceous to lower Palaeogene volcanic rocks continues to hinder our understandionfg t he geological frameworkof the Rockall Continental Margin. Whilst it has been proved that Lower Proterozoic gneisses form continental basement on Rockall Bank, and are therefore part of the Islay structural terrane, the pre-Cretaceous supracrustal infill of the Rockall Trough and Hatton-Rockall Basin remains conjectural. Reworked palynomorphs of Carboniferous, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age have been identified in lower Palaeogene sediments recovered on the western margin of the Rockall Trough, but their provenance is uncertain. The present morphological expressiono f the Rockall Continental Margin largely reflects late Mesozoic-Cenozoic extensional tectonism associated with North Atlantic sea-floor spreading. In mid-Cretaceous time, the Rockall Trough was the focus of extreme crustal attenuation associated with abortive continental breakup along the axis of the basin. The growth of the axid Rosemary Bank and Anton D o h s eamounts may have been initiated duringth is phase of crustal thinning. When the axis of spreading shifted westwards, the margin was affected by extensive volcanism concomitant with the split between Rockall Plateau and Greenland, that formed the North-East Atlantic OceaInn. the study area, this volcanismis manifested by the areally extensive, Paleocene to lower Eocene lavas and sills. The continental margin subsequently underwent regional differential subsidence punctuated by intermittent tectonism. This is reflected in the post-volcanic, sedimentary succession for which, for the first time, a unified seismic stratigraphy linking the Rockall Trough and Hatton-Rockall Basin has been established. Three main post-volcanic seismic-stratigraphical sequences have been defined; upper Paleocene to lower upper Eocene, upper Eocene to middle Miocene, and middle Miocene to Holocene. Stratigraphical control and inter-basin correlation are based on a databaseo f BGS boreholes and shallow samples, DSDP boreholes and well 164/25-2 (courtesy of BP). Late Paleocene to early late Eocene sedimentation occurred amidst continuing tectonic instability across the margin. This has been well demonstrated on the edge of Rockall Bank where a prograding shelf-margin sequence penetratebdy borehole 94/3 preserves a record of fluctuating alluvial to shallow-marine sedimentation, interrupted by phases of uplift, erosion and sporadic volcanism. Late Eocene subsidence in the Rockall Trough and Hatton-Rockall Basin provided the downwarped, basin-margin unconformity onto which upper Eocene to middle Miocene sediments onlap. This is a major sequence boundary and essentially marks the onset of deep-water, current-controlled sedimentation in both basins. In the Rockall Trough, the main buildup of the Feni Ridge sediment drift occurred during this interval. A phase of mid-Miocene tectonism resulted in the initiationo f the Barra Fan, on the eastern margin of the Rockall Trough, and may also have instigated a change in regional palaeoceanography culminating in the developmenotf a widespread unconformity across the Rockall Trough and Hatton-Rockall Basin. On the Hebrides Slope, middle Miocene to Holocene sediments form a thick, prograding, clastic weAd gthei.n ner package of deep-water sediments is preserved in the Rockall Trough and, on the western margin of the trough, an erosional regime has prevailed throughout this interval. This has resulted in a marked asymmetry to the depositional sequence architecture across the Rockall Trough. The Hatton- Rockall Basin was similarly dominated by deep-water processes but, in contrast to the Rockall Trough, a much thicker sedimentary succession has accumulated in this basin. In terms of prospectivity, circumstantial evidence suggests that Carboniferous, Mesozoic or lower Tertiary source rocks may be present in the Rockall Trough, but no definite thermogenic source has been proved. Potential hydrocarbon indicators include gas blanking, fluid-migration structures and locally high methane concentrations in surface sediments. The identification of tilted fault blocks on the western margoifn the Rockall Trough, in bothU K and Irish waters, illustrates one possible hydrocarbon-trapping mechanism that may be applicable to this area. Other potential trapping styles include fault-scarp fans and lowstand slope-apron or basin-floor fans

Identification and structural characterisation of a partially arabinosylated lipoarabinomannan variant isolated from a Corynebacterium glutamicum ubiAmutant

Arabinan polysaccharide side-chains are present in both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Corynebacterium glutamicum in the heteropolysaccharide arabinogalactan (AG), and in M. tuberculosis in the lipoglycan, lipoarabinomannan (LAM). Herein, we show by quantitative sugar and glycosyl linkage analysis that C. glutamicum possesses a much smaller LAM version, Cg-LAM, characterised by single t-Araf residues linked to th

Creative Industries in India Mapping Study

No abstract available

Antimicrobial Stewardship from Policy to Practice: Experiences from UK Antimicrobial Pharmacists

Antimicrobial stewardship in the UK has evolved dramatically in the last 15 years. Factors driving this include initial central funding for specialist pharmacists and mandatory reductions in healthcare-associated infections (particularly Clostridium difficile infection). More recently, the introduction of national stewardship guidelines, and an increased focus on stewardship as part of the UK five-year antimicrobial resistance strategy, have accelerated and embedded developments. Antimicrobial pharmacists have been instrumental in effecting changes at an organizational and national level. This article describes the evolution of the antimicrobial pharmacist role, its impact, the progress toward the actions listed in the five-year resistance strategy, and novel emerging areas in stewardship in the UK

Clinical supervision for clinical psychology students in Uganda: an initial qualitative exploration

Background Burn out in clinical psychologists working in low income countries has been reported. Clinical supervisory structures do not yet exist in Uganda. A way to decrease levels of burn out and increase quality of care for people with mental illness is through clinical supervision. The aim of this study was to explore the initial experiences of supervision for clinical psychology students in Uganda to ascertain whether or not clinical supervision is culturally appropriate, and what aspects of supervision had been helpful and unhelpful. Methods A qualitative design with thematic analysis was utilized. A focus group was held with 12 second year clinical psychology students to ask their experiences of receiving supervision. Results Data analysis created five themes. Firstly, the negative emotions that resulted from the training processed were discussed, and how supervision helped and did not help the students to manage these. Secondly, the students voiced that supervision helped them to learn through observational experiences, co-therapist roles and parallel processes within the supervisory relationship. Thirdly, supervision had taught the clinical psychology students their role as a clinical psychology student, how to act within the Ugandan mental health system and skills to conduct therapy. Fourthly, suggestions for the future of supervision were given, with the students requesting for it to start earlier in the training, for supervisors who can meet with the students on a regular basis to be selected and for the training the students receive at university to match the skills required on their placements, with a request for more practical techniques rather than theory. The final theme related to left over miscellaneous data, such as the students agreeing with each other. Conclusions The students stated that supervision was helpful overall, implying that clinical supervision is culturally appropriate for clinical psychology students in Uganda. Suggestions for future supervision were given. In order to decrease high levels of staff burn out in the mental health systems in Uganda, supervisory structures with an emphasis on self care need to be established

Structural characterization of a partially arabinosylated lipoarabinomannan variant isolated from a Corynebacterium glutamicum ubiA mutant

Arabinan polysaccharide side-chains are present in both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Corynebacterium glutamicum in the heteropolysaccharide arabinogalactan (AG), and in M. tuberculosis in the lipoglycan lipoarabinomannan (LAM). This study shows by quantitative sugar and glycosyl linkage analysis that C. glutamicum possesses a much smaller LAM version, Cg-LAM, characterized by single t-Araf residues linked to the α(1→6)-linked mannan backbone. MALDI-TOF MS showed an average molecular mass of 13 800–15 400 Da for Cg-LAM. The biosynthetic origin of Araf residues found in the extracytoplasmic arabinan domain of AG and LAM is well known to be provided by decaprenyl-monophosphoryl-d-arabinose (DPA). However, the characterization of LAM in a C. glutamicum : : ubiA mutant devoid of prenyltransferase activity and devoid of DPA-dependent arabinan deposition into AG revealed partial formation of LAM, albeit with a slightly altered molecular mass. These data suggest that in addition to DPA utilization as an Araf donor, alternative pathways exist in Corynebacterianeae for Araf delivery, possibly via an unknown sugar nucleotide