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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

US-Norwegian collaboration on fluid-consuming transformation processes

Alternative title: Norsk-amerikansk samarbeid innen mineralreaksjoner

Awarded: NOK 2.1 mill.

The center for the Physics of Geological Processes (PGP) has developed a world-leading environment in the intersection between physics, geology and computer science. An area of particular focus for the center is the interaction between fluids and tight rocks -- rocks with low initial permeability -- which is important to understand the dynamic of metamorphism in the Earth's crust, the behavior of confined fluids and interfaces in nanoporous media, and for applied problems such as CO2 storage and enhanced hydrocarbon production. Although rocks deform in response to tectonic stresses at length scales of kilometers, the deformation also depends on the mechanical properties of the rock, which are affected by fluid-rock interactions at nanometer scale at the interface between fluids and mineral surfaces. To be able to study such a complex process across vast differences in length scales, PGP has acquired a wide range of expertise, including specialized, world-leading activities in experimental, computational and field studies. However, in order to develop our understanding of fluid-rock interactions to the next level, the activity of the center needs to be strengthened in directions of large-scale observational studies, microscopic experiments of fluid interfaces, and atomic modeling methods for interface processes. The aim of this project has been to develop lasting international collaborations to strengthen these aspects of our activity in collaboration with world-leading groups. Several exchange programs have been initiated through this project. The strategic collaboration between PGP, Columbia and USC has resulted in several exchanges of researchers. In 2017-2018 the collaborations were further strengthened by a joint, international fieldwork campaign in Norway, Oman and Japan. This work is closely related to how CO2 reacts with ultramafic rocks with a focus on the viability of permanent storage of CO2. The Oman drilling project directed by our collaborators at Columbia has played a central role in the collaboration in 2018, with major collaborative field work. This project has also received significant international press, including a major feature article in New York Times. PGP has also attracted two internationally leading researchers who have had their sabbatical in Norway. Professor Wenlu Zhu from the University of Maryland spent the whole academic year from 2016 to 2017 at PGP. This has formed a lasting collaboration between PGP and University of Maryland, and she will visit several more times in the project period. Professor Yehuda Ben-Zion from the University of Southern California is an internationally leading earthquake researcher and is now working with PGP researchers to understand the coupling between fluid reactions, slow slip on faults and earthquakes in field work in Norway. This work has already led to a high impact paper in Nature in 2018. Ben-Zion had his summer sabbatical stay at PGP every following year during the project period. PGP has extended the collaboration with the Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations at the University of Southern California. Though the INTPART project three PhD-students and three master-students have had extended research stays at USC in 2017, 2018 and 2019. This provides us with a unique opportunity to teach our students unique skills in areas where USC have a world-leading activity. In addition, the PhD-students contribute to research project at USC, which will tie the two activities closer together in the long run. The project has produced high quality papers on crystal formation. This partnership brings critical competence to Norway and contribute to educate our students so that they have a competitive advantage and essential skills that will be important for building computational science in Norway. From 2020 to 2022 collaborations have been pursued digitally, but severe travel restrictions due to the pandemic have limited exchange and travel plans.

The project has led to new, lasting, strategic collaborations between the University of Oslo (UoO) and several US institutions. The collaboration between UoO and the CACS group at USC was strengthened by the project, and CACS was a partner in the NRC FriPro project History-dependent friction (2018-2023). The collaboration between UoO and University of Maryland has resulted in a long-term collaboration and a joint project at CAS, Center for advanced study, called FricFrac (2023-2024). The collaboration between UoO and Columbia University has led to a highly visible joint project on CO2 sequestration which has been described in a major feature article in New York Times. The collaboration between UoO and the Southern California Earthquake Center has resulted in a long-term strategic collaboration, several joint field work expeditions, and a new partnership through the COLOSSAL INTPART project.

The center for the Physics of Geological Processes (PGP) has developed a world-leading environment in the intersection between physics, geology and computer science. An area of particular focus for the center is the interaction between fluids and tight rocks -- rocks with low initial permeability -- which is important to understand the dynamic of metamorphism in the Earth's crust, the behavior of confined fluids and interfaced in nanoporous media, and for applied problems such as CO2 storage and enhanced hydrocarbon production. Although rocks deform in response to tectonic stresses at length scales of kilometers, the deformation also depends on the mechanical properties of the rock, which are affected by fluid-rock interactions at nanometer scale at the interface between fluids and mineral surfaces. To be able to study such a coupled process across vast differences in length scales, PGP has acquired a wide range of expertise, including specialized, world-leading activities in experimental, computational and field studies. However, in order to develop our understanding of fluid-rock interactions to the next level, the activity of the center needs to be strengthened in directions of large-scale observational studies, microscopic experiments of fluid interfaces, and atomic modeling methods for interface processes. Our ambition is therefore to develop lasting international collaborations to strengthen these aspects of our activity in collaboration with world-leading groups. We see the need (i) to develop educational programs to bring forward the next generation of students with a competence that combines the expertise of the center with selected competences from international collaborators to address challenges in fluid-rock interactions, and (ii) to develop strong and lasting international research collaborations that can successfully address new challenges in fluid-rock inter-actions and strengthen our position as a leading research center.

Funding scheme:

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research