ArCtiC ExpLOrAtiON 39
Locating the ultra-deep water
edges of the Arctic with satellites
Knowing accurately
where continents start
and end has many
implications, not least
for those staking a
claim to the oil and
gas reserves in the
Arctic. New satellite
sensing techniques are
beginning to provide
some answers. Sean
Ottewell reports.
Die genaue Kenntnis
über den Anfang
und das Ende von
Erdteilen hat viele
Auswirkungen,
besonders für alle,
die Ansprüche an die
Öl- und Gasreserven
in der Arktis
anmelden. Einige
Antworten liefern
neue Verfahren für die
Satellitenerkennung.
R
ifted continental margins, which Fig. 1. Much of the Arctic’s reserves are
Ein Bericht von Sean
separate thick continental crust from thought to be in less than 500metres of water.
Ottewell.
thin oceanic crust, lay at the Photo courtesy of Helge Hansen/StatoilHydro.
oceanward edge of continents and
are formed during continental break-up to form
Conocer con exactitud
new oceans. sedimentary basins at rifted continental margins.
donde empiezan y
Understanding where rifted continental While deep water oil and gas exploration at
terminan los
margins are located and how they form are rifted continental margins is very expensive it can
continentes conlleva
important both for the science of plate tectonics, produce enormous rewards as illustrated by
muchas implicaciones,
especialmente para
for finding oil and gas reserves at continent- recent major oil and gas discoveries offshore
aquellos que reclaman
ocean margins such as in the Arctic, and for Brazil, Angola and Gulf of Mexico. With deep-
en propiedad las
territorial claims under the UN law of the sea water exploration wells costing up to US$200m
reservas de gas y de process.
each, understanding where the continental crust
crudo en el Ártico. Las Now geophysicists at Liverpool University in stops and oceanic crust starts is critically
nuevas técnicas de
England have developed new satellite remote important to this exploration effort.”
detección por vía
sensing exploration methods to map crustal The new geophysical exploration method uses
satélite están
thickness and locate the distal deep water the inversion of satellite and other gravity
empezando ofrecer
respuestas. Sean
extremities of continental crust at the ocean- anomaly data to map oceanic and rifted
Ottewell informa.
continent transition
(*)
. continental margin crustal thickness, and to
Professor Nick Kusznir at the University’s predict ocean-continent transition location.
Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences The new method has been successfully
explains what drove his research: “The very deep applied, in collaboration with the oil and gas
waters between continents and oceans are now industry, to map crustal thickness and ocean-
the frontier exploration target of the oil and gas continent transition for many of the world’s
industry. As oil and gas resources on land ocean margins including to the Arctic Ocean – an
become progressively exhausted, our future oil area of potentially conflicting territorial interests
and gas supplies will increasingly come from – to produce the first set of comprehensive
➠
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