Norwegian Petroleum Directorate gravity cores from the Barents sea - core quality assessment and list of cores transferred to NGU

Abstract

The Geological Survey of Norway has taken over 252 Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) gravity cores. This report is a compilation of different activities within the project. The following topics are included: A quality assessment report including four cores A list of cores transferred to NGU Geodata Centre from NPD December 2001 A digital map showing the locations of the retrieved gravity cores in the Barents Sea A CD with all photo-documentation from the visits to the core storage facility in Stavanger Correspodence with NPD staff was undertaken concerning the handling and use of cores after the cores had been sampled in 1976-1979. The original purpose for the cores was exploration for oil and gas in the Barents Sea using surface organic geochemistry. Several hundred cores were taken during the period 1976 - 1979, and later submitted for geochemical hydrocarbon gas analysis at Horovitz Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately NPD has not been able to track the results from these analyses. The quality assessment report shows that the cores appear to be in good condition, which will allow use of the gravity cores for different type of investigations. The corfe material can be used for logging methods as well as geochemistry. The total of 252 cores vary from approx. 100 cm to approx. 200 cm in length. The cores encompass a large geographical area in the Barents Sea. The transfer of the gravity cores to NGU and the assessment of core quality provide opportunities for future regional studies in the Barents Sea, without the need for a re-sampling programme. The cost of a new sampling programme to collect a similar number of gravity cores would be in order of several Mill. Norwegian kroner.