CCS - MV Seca 2018 V01 Diver Deployed Sediment Cores

Project Overview: A range of solutions will be required to reach globally agreed emissions reductions targets for carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is part of the suite of technologies that will contribute to lowering atmospheric emissions of CO2 from Australia's energy system. There are a wide variety of technologies at various stages of technical and commercial readiness, with more development underway for cost effective CO2 capture and storage. Our research will provide new knowledge to inform cost-efficient measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV) of the environment of CCS projects in coastal waters. --o-- Four 10 cm and four 6 cm diameter sediment cores were collected at each of the study sites in the Gippsland area, Victoria. Cores were collected by hand and involved divers pushing the core into the sediment to a depth of 10 cm depth and capping the core at both ends using rubber stoppers. At each site 4 cores of each size were collected for bacteria and infauna, replicated on 2 spatial scales, 1 m apart and 10 m apart. Sediment cores have been processed and analysed for infaunal diversity and abundance (top 10 cm of caore), bacteria DNA (0-2 cm core depth and 8-10 cm core depth) and infauna DNA (top 10 cm of cores); XRD, TC/TOC/TN and particle size will be analysed for some cores.