Malte Froemchen’s Placement Report

Placement Location

British Geological Survey

Placement Dates

Start Date : January 22, 2024
End Date : April 5, 2024

Report

Thanks to the Placement Grant by the IAPETUS2 DTP I was able to undertake a three-month placement at the British Geological Survey (BGS) in Edinburgh. During the three months, I was part of the Radioactive Waste Management team under the guidance of Dave McCarthy.

The East Irish Sea Basin (EISB), between the Northwest of England, North Wales and the Isle of Man, is currently being evaluated for the storage of nuclear waste in an underground disposal facility. The overall tectonic background and the structural evolution of the EISB in general are poorly constrained and are based on outdated models. I was tasked to utilise the vast library of seismic reflection, gravity and aeromagnetic data sets, that the BGS holds of the EISB, and develop a regional model of the evolution of the EISB, with specific reference to how structural inheritance may have played a role during the evolution of this Permo-Triassic rift system. This enabled me to contribute the knowledge I acquired during my PhD, on how structural inheritance influences rift evolution, to the project. While at the BGS I was able to learn from experts in seismic interpretation with Petrel, which showed me new ways to utilise seismic attributes and horizon flattening to highlight regional trends and constrain syn-rift deposition. I also learned new ways to combine the interpretation of reflection seismic with the interpretation of other geophysical data sets to gain a novel view of the regional tectonics of the EISB. Specifically, I could highlight how the pre-rift structural configuration of the EISB determined the location and thickness of Permian evaporite depocenters, which influenced the style of later Triassic rifting in the EISB.

My findings and ideas on inheritance control of rifting in the EISB will aid the BGS in successfully characterising potential sites for secure nuclear waste disposal. In the following months, we hope to write up these findings into a manuscript and submit it for publication in an international journal. A massive thank you to Dave McCarthy and his team at the BGS for having me, and to IAPETUS2 for making this placement possible in the first place.