Identifying past petroleum exploration related drill cutting releases and influences on the marine environment and benthic foraminiferal communities, Goliat Field, SW Barents Sea, Norway.
Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, Postboks 6050 Langnes, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway. Electronic address: steffen.sorensen@uit.no.
The present multiproxy investigation of marine sediment cores aims at: 1) Identifying dispersion of petroleum exploration related drill cutting releases within the Goliat Field, Barents Sea in 2006/07 and 2) Assessing past and present influence of drill cuttings on the marine environment. The cores were recovered 5, 30, 60, 125 and 250m from the drill site in the eastward downstream direction. Downstream dispersion of drill cuttings is evaluated by examining sediment grain size distribution and barium (Ba), heavy metal, total organic carbon and sulphur concentrations. Dispersion of drill cuttings was limited to