Summary of potential oil and gas formations in England for use in groundwater vulnerability assessments

The joint Environment Agency (EA) and BGS project “3D Groundwater Vulnerability” (3DGWV) will develop a methodology for attributing vulnerability of groundwater to pollution from sub-surface oil and gas exploration and production activities, including unconventional, conventional and hybrid plays. It will also take account of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) exploration, in addition to both near surface and deeper aquifers and groundwater. Outputs will include descriptions and visual representations of potential sources of sub-surface contamination of groundwater from different sources of hydrocarbons. These outputs are designed for use by the EA, Defra, other government departments, local planning authorities, environmental consultants and the public. The project will involve creating an attributed version of UK3D for England with source rock formations and aquifers identified. This report describes the hydrocarbon bearing units in England. The units have been identified primarily from three BGS reports commissioned by DECC (the Department for Energy and Climate Change) in 2013 (DECC, 2013a; 2013b; 2013c) and three additional area-specific reports on shale gas prospectivity in the Bowland Shale (Andrews, 2013), the Weald (Andrews, 2014) and the Wessex area (Greenhalgh, 2016). Note that this report is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the occurrence of hydrocarbon units in England, rather a high-level overview for hydrogeologists interested in the potential for groundwater contamination. If further detailed information is required about the hydrocarbon characteristics of the units the reader should refer to the source documents (and references therein). The source documents identify units that have potential as conventional oil and gas reservoirs and source rocks (DECC, 2013a), for Coal Bed Methane (CBM) (DECC, 2013b) and shale gas (DECC, 2013c). There is no similar report for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and therefore coal units have been identified from (DECC, 2013b). This report gives a summary of the potential hydrocarbon resource types; identifies or attributes specific hydrocarbon source rocks on the Generalised Vertical Section (GVS), which identifies the main geologic units for England from BGS’ National Geological Model (NGM) (UK3D v2015 and Waters et al., 2016); and, summarises features of each of the units in the context of the 3D GWV project

3D Magnetic Analysis of the CMS Magnet

The CMS magnetic system consists of a super-conducting solenoid coil, 12.5 m long and 6 m free bore diameter, and of an iron flux-return yoke, which includes the central barrel, two end-caps and the ferromagnetic parts of the hadronic forward calorimeter. The magnetic flux density in the center of the solenoid is 4 T. To carry out the magnetic analysis of the CMS magnetic system, several 3D models were developed to perform magnetic field and force calculations using the Vector Fields code TOSCA. The analysis includes a study of the general field behavior, the calculation of the forces on the coil generated by small axial, radial displacements and angular tilts, the calculation of the forces on the ferromagnetic parts, the calculation of the fringe field outside the magnetic system, and a study of the field level in the chimneys for the current leads and the cryogenic lines. A procedure to reconstruct the field inside a cylindrical volume starting from the values of the magnetic flux density on the cylinder surface is considered. Special TOSCA-GEANT interface tools have being developed to input the calculated magnetic field into the detector simulation package.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, 1 equation, 14 reference

Plasma complement biomarkers distinguish multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are autoimmune demyelinating diseases distinguished clinically by selective involvement in NMOSD of optic nerves and spinal cord. Early clinical manifestations are similar, complicating clinical management. Aquaporin-4 autoantibody measurement aids diagnosis of NMOSD but is frequently negative, creating unmet need for alternative biomarkers. Objective: We investigated whether plasma complement proteins are altered in MS and NMOSD and whether these provide biomarkers that reliably distinguish the diseases. Methods: Plasma from 53 NMOSD, 49 MS and 69 control donors was tested in multiplex assays measuring complement activation products and proteins. Logistic regression was used to test whether combinations of complement analyte measurements distinguish NMOSD from controls and MS. Results: All activation products were significantly elevated in NMOSD compared to either control or MS. Four complement proteins (C1inh, C1s, C5, FH) were significantly higher in NMOSD compared to MS or controls. A model comprising C1 inhibitor and TCC distinguished NMOSD from MS (area under curve (AUC) 0.98), while C1 inhibitor and C5 distinguished NMOSD from controls (AUC 0.94). Conclusions: NMOSD is distinguished from MS by plasma complement activation

Characterising the vertical separation of shale-gas source rocks and aquifers across England and Wales (UK)

Shale gas is considered by many to have the potential to provide the UK with greater energy security, economic growth and jobs. However, development of a shale gas industry is highly contentious due to environmental concerns including the risk of groundwater pollution. Evidence suggests that the vertical separation between exploited shale units and aquifers is an important factor in the risk to groundwater from shale gas exploitation. A methodology is presented to assess the vertical separation between different pairs of aquifers and shales that are present across England and Wales. The application of the method is then demonstrated for two of these pairs—the Cretaceous Chalk Group aquifer and the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation, and the Triassic sandstone aquifer and the Carboniferous Bowland Shale Formation. Challenges in defining what might be considered criteria for ‘safe separation’ between a shale gas formation and an overlying aquifer are discussed, in particular with respect to uncertainties in geological properties, aquifer extents and determination of socially acceptable risk levels. Modelled vertical separations suggest that the risk of aquifer contamination from shale exploration will vary greatly between shale–aquifer pairs and between regions and this will need to be considered carefully as part of the risk assessment and management for any shale gas development

UKGEOS: Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site (GGERFS): initial summary of the geological platform

The preferred second UKGEOS site is at Clyde Gateway, in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland. The focus of this, the Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site (GGERFS), is on characterising and monitoring the subsurface for minewater and hot sedimentary aquifer geothermal energy, and for cooling and heat storage. This report details BGS data and knowledge at late 2016, to define initial characterisation of the ‘geological platform’ relevant for the planning of a geothermal research facility and associated environmental baseline monitoring. The report covers knowledge of the bedrock and superficial deposits geology, abandoned coal mines, hydrogeology, geothermal datasets, geochemistry, remote sensed data, seismicity, stress fields, engineering geology and rock property datasets. BGS holds a great deal of legacy borehole, mining and geochemistry data and has updated existing bedrock and superficial deposits models of the area. However, deep borehole and seismic data are lacking to define the geology and structure of the area below a few hundred metres. Hydrogeological and temperature data are also lacking for the bedrock strata. Regional datasets and knowledge have (and can be further) used to reduce uncertainty and risk in these aspects of the geological characterisation

The CMS Magnetic Field Map Performance

Peer reviewe

High School Exit Examinations: When Do Learning Effects Generalize?

This paper reviews international and domestic evidence on the effects of three types of high school exit exam systems: voluntary curriculum-based external exit exams, universal curriculum-based external exit exam systems and minimum competency tests that must be passed to receive a regular high school diploma. The nations and provinces that use Universal CBEEES (and typically teacher grades as well) to signal student achievement have significantly higher achievement levels and smaller differentials by family background than otherwise comparable jurisdictions that base high stakes decisions on voluntary college admissions tests and/or teacher grades. The introduction of Universal CBEEES in New York and North Carolina during the 1990s was associated with large increases in math achievement on NAEP tests. Research on MCTs and high school accountability tests is less conclusive because these systems are new and have only been implemented in one country. Cross-section studies using a comprehensive set of controls for family background have not found that students in MCT states score higher on audit tests like the NAEP that carry no stakes for the test taker. The analysis reported in table 1 tells us that the five states that introduced MCTs during the 1990s had significantly larger improvements on NAEP tests than states that made no change in their student accountability regime. The gains, however, are smaller than for the states introducing Universal CBEEES. New York and North Carolina. The most positive finding about MCTs is that students in MCT states earn significantly more during the first eight years after graduation than comparable students in other states suggesting that MCTs improve employer perceptions of the quality of the recent graduates of local high schools

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE