(Table 2) Seroprevalence against Trichinella spp. in Ursus maritimus from Svalbard and Barents Sea pack ice

Blood samples of live-caught polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Svalbard collected 1991-2000 (Period 1) and 2006-2008 (Period 2) and from the pack ice of the Barents Sea collected in Period 1, were assayed for antibodies against Trichinella spp. by ELISA. Of 54 cubs-of-the-year included in the Period 1 sample, 53 were seronegative, indicating that exposure to Trichinella infected meat is uncommon during the first months of life for polar bears in the Svalbard region. Of 30 mother-offspring pairs, 18 mothers were seropositive with seronegative offspring (n = 27), suggesting (1) that maternal antibodies had dropped to levels below detection limit by the time of capture in April (offspring approximately 4 months old), and (2) supporting experimental studies in other animal models showing that vertical transmission of Trichinella spp. is uncommon. Bear 1 year and older had higher prevalence in Svalbard (78%) than in the Barents Sea (51%). There was no temporal change in prevalence for bears from Svalbard during the time between the two periods. The prevalence increased with age in both sexes. A positive correlation was found between anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Trichinella spp. antibodies.

Gas composition, concentration and stable isotope ratios (Table 2, 3, 4)

The deployment of CCS (carbon capture and storage) at industrial scale implies the development of effective monitoring tools. Noble gases are tracers usually proposed to track CO2. This methodology, combined with the geochemistry of carbon isotopes, has been tested on available analogues. At first, gases from natural analogues were sampled in the Colorado Plateau and in the French carbogaseous provinces, in both well-confined and leaking-sites. Second, we performed a 2-years tracing experience on an underground natural gas storage, sampling gas each month during injection and withdrawal periods. In natural analogues, the geochemical fingerprints are dependent on the containment criterion and on the geological context, giving tools to detect a leakage of deep-CO2 toward surface. This study also provides information on the origin of CO2, as well as residence time of fluids within the crust and clues on the physico-chemical processes occurring during the geological story. The study on the industrial analogue demonstrates the feasibility of using noble gases as tracers of CO2. Withdrawn gases follow geochemical trends coherent with mixing processes between injected gas end-members. Physico-chemical processes revealed by the tracing occur at transient state. These two complementary studies proved the interest of geochemical monitoring to survey the CO2 behaviour, and gave information on its use.

(Table 2) Geochemistry of glasses at DSDP Leg 54 Holes

The compositions of 45 natural basalt glasses from nine dredge stations and six Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 54 sites near 9°N on the East Pacific Rise have been determined by electron microprobe. These comprise 19 distinct chemical groups. Seventeen of these fall in the range of the eastern Pacific tholeiite suite, which is characterized by marked enrichment in FeO*, TiO2, K2O, and P2O5 as CaO, MgO, and Al2O3 all decrease. Based on trace elements, an estimated 50-75 per cent fractionation of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine is required to produce ferrobasalts from parental olivine tholeiites. Additional chemical variations occur which require source heterogeneities, differences in the degree of melting, different courses of shallow fractionation, or magma mixing to explain. Glass compositions from within the Siqueiros fracture zone are mostly less fractionated than those from the flanks of the Rise, and show chemical differences which require variations in the depth of melting or highpressure fractionation to explain. Some of them could not be parental to East Pacific Rise flank ferrobasalts. Two remaining glass groups, from dredge hauls atop a ridge and a seamount, respectively, have distinctly higher K2O, P2O5, and TiO2 as well as lower CaO/Al2O3 and SiO2 at corresponding values of MgO than the tholeiite suite. These abundances, and whole-rock Y/Zr, Ce/Y, Nb/Zr, and isotopic abundances indicate that these basalts had a deeper, less depleted mantle source than the Rise tholeiite suite. Trace element abundances preclude the "ridge" basalt type from being a hybrid between the "seamount" basalt type and any East Pacific Rise tholeiite so far analyzed. The East Pacific Rise glasses from 9°N compare very closely to glasses dredged and drilled elsewhere on the East Pacific Rise. However, glass compositions from Site 424 on the Galapagos Rift drilled during Leg 54, as well as glasses and basalts dredged from the Galapagos and Costa Rica rifts, indicate that a greater degree of melting prevailed along much of the Galapagos Spreading Center than anywhere along the East Pacific Rise.

(Table 2) Grain composition of sediments from ODP Hole 161-974B and from beach samples

Miocene to Pleistocene sand and sandstone were recovered at Ocean Drilling Program Site 974 in the Tyrrhenian Basin and Sites 976 and 977 in the Alboran Basin. Sand detrital modes were determined for 45 samples from these sites, as well as 10 samples of Spanish beach sand. At Site 974, the Pleistocene section includes a number of volcaniclastic (vitric ash) and terrigenous sand layers; the latter are heterogeneous and contain sedimentary and metamorphic lithic fragments. Submarine canyon and onshore drainage patterns suggest that the most likely source of this sediment is the Tiber River drainage basin in central Italy, where a Pleistocene volcanic field is superimposed on Apennine orogenic rocks. In contrast, the Miocene sand in Unit III at Site 974 may have been derived from local basement highs. The quartzolithic composition and preponderance of metamorphic and sedimentary lithic debris in sand samples from Unit II at Site 976, Unit I at Sites 977 and 978, and Unit I at Site 979 are consistent with derivation from metamorphic rocks and sedimentary cover sequences that crop out in the Betic Cordillera of southern Spain (976-978) and in the Rif of Northern Africa (979). The sedimentary to metamorphic lithic fragment ratios in these samples reflect the relative proportion of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks exposed in onshore source terranes. In contrast, the source of the few quartzose Pleistocene sands at Site 976 was likely the Flysch Trough Units that crop out near Gibraltar. The significant volcanic component in certain intervals at Sites 976 (upper Miocene) and 977 (lower Pliocene to Miocene) is consistent with widespread volcanic activity during basin inception and development. Mean sand detrital modes for sand subgroups from both the Alboran and Tyrrhenian Basin sites plot in the Recycled Orogenic and Magmatic Arc compositional fields of Dickinson et al. (1983, doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1983)94<222:PONAPS>2.0.CO;2), reflecting the hybrid tectonic histories of these basins.

Table 2. Performance summary of K-based sorbents capturing CO2

This article reviews the progress made in CO2 capture, storage, and utilization in Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). New concepts such as adsorption using dry regenerable solid sorbents as well as functional ionic liquids (ILs) for CO2 capture are thoroughly discussed. Carbon sequestration, such as geological sequestration, mineral carbonation and ocean storage are also covered. The utilization of CO2 as a raw material in the synthesis of chemicals and liquid energy carriers which offers a way to mitigate the increasing CO2 buildup is introduced.

(Table 1) Geochemistry of the ETM-2 section from IODP Hole 302-M0004A

During the early Eocene, a series of short-term global warming events ("hyperthermals") occurred in response to the rapid release of carbon into the oceans and atmosphere. In order to investigate the response of ocean redox to global warming, we have determined the molybdenum isotope compositions (d98/95Mo) of samples spanning one such hyperthermal (Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM-2, 54.1 Ma)), from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302 Site M0004A in the Arctic Ocean. The highest d98/95Mo in our sample set (2.00 ± 0.11 per mil) corresponds to the development of local euxinia at Site M0004A during the peak of ETM-2, which we interpret as recording the global seawater d98/95Mo at that time. The ETM-2 seawater d98/95Mo is indistinguishable from a recent estimate of seawater d98/95Mo from an earlier hyperthermal (Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 55.9 Ma), d98/95Mo = 2.08 ± 0.11 per mil). We argue that the similarity in seawater d98/95Mo during ETM-2 and the PETM was caused by the development of transient euxinia in the Arctic Ocean during each hyperthermal that allowed sediments accumulating in this basin to capture the long-term d98/95Mo of early Eocene seawater. Our new data therefore place a minimum constraint on the magnitude of transient global seafloor deoxygenation during early Eocene hyperthermals.

Table 2 & Appendix A. Properties of operations injecting CO2 into saline aquifers

The experience from CO2 injection at pilot projects (Frio, Ketzin, Nagaoka, US Regional Partnerships) and existing commercial operations (Sleipner, Snøhvit, In Salah, acid-gas injection) demonstrates that CO2 geological storage in saline aquifers is technologically feasible. Monitoring and verification technologies have been tested and demonstrated to detect and track the CO2 plume in different subsurface geological environments. By the end of 2008, approximately 20 Mt of CO2 had been successfully injected into saline aquifers by existing operations. Currently, the highest injection rate and total storage volume for a single storage operation are approximately 1 Mt CO2/year and 25 Mt, respectively. If carbon capture and storage (CCS) is to be an effective option for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, commercial-scale storage operations will require orders of magnitude larger storage capacity than accessed by the existing sites. As a result, new demonstration projects will need to develop and test injection strategies that consider multiple injection wells and the optimisation of the usage of storage space. To accelerate large-scale CCS deployment, demonstration projects should be selected that can be readily employed for commercial use; i.e. projects that fully integrate the capture, transport and storage processes at an industrial emissions source.