MARINE
For marine scientific fieldwork, GEO has a wide range of equipment for geological and geophysical instrumentation. This includes sediment samplers (gravity, multi, box and calypso corers), seismic systems (e.g. mobile chirp, air guns, hydrophone cables, OBS) and the ROV-Ægir 6000 for deep-sea operations. In addition, GEO has access to the marine research vessels "G.O. Sars" and "Kristine Bonnevie" as well as the coastal vessel "Hans Brattstrøm".
About
- Marine field equipment is described in detail here. (external link)
- Research vessels UiB has at its disposal are described here.
Research vessels
Together, UiB and HI operate two ocean-going vessels.
- FF “G.O. Sars” (external link) has state-of-the-art sonar systems, multi-beam mapping capabilities and dynamic positioning systems ideal for deep-sea exploration. As part of the proposed Senter program, there will be annual international expeditions to the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge with this vessel.
- FF "Kronprins Haakon" (external link), A new Norwegian ice-going polar research vessel opens up new opportunities for research along some of the ice-covered parts of AMOR.
- MS "Hans Brattström" (external link) is a research vessel owned by the University of Bergen (UiB) and operated in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Research (HI). The vessel is an important part of UiB's marine infrastructure and is actively used in both teaching and research along the West Coast of Norway.
The field of marine geophysics deals with the collection and analysis of geophysical data in fjords and at sea, and aims to map rock types. The most important and most widely used method is seismic, where sound pulses are generated, propagated under the seabed, reflected and deflected, and recorded by sensitive receivers on the seabed or near the sea surface. A distinction is made between shallow seismicity, where detailed information about the uppermost sedimentary layers is obtained, multichannel seismicity, which maps the entire sedimentary layer package, and seabed seismicity, where a large distance between the source and the receivers can be used to map the entire earth's crust, as well as detecting shear waves that provide information about rock types.
Potential field methods are also used, and include gravimetry, where small differences in the earth's gravity field can be used to detect sedimentary basins, magnetic methods, which can also be used to find the depth of crystalline, magnetic rocks. Magnetic methods are also important for finding the transition zone between oceanic and continental crust. In the electromagnetic method, one attempts to map resistivity differences to detect hydrocarbon reservoirs. This method must always be based on seismic data, which provides a more detailed picture of the subsurface.
The Department of Geosciences has a long tradition in using marine geophysical methods, and has been particularly active in the development of wide-angle, seafloor seismic. The method is used, among other things, to understand how continents thin and crack, and how seafloor crust is formed. The department has a large marine instrumentation park that deals with seismic sources, receivers, as well as gravimeters and magnetometers.