Norwegian West Coast Research Articles

The battle against the introduced pathogenic monogenean Gyrodactylus salaris in Norwegian Atlantic salmon rivers and fish farms.

The introduced salmonid ectoparasite Gyrodactylus salaris has been detected on Atlantic salmon in 53 Norwegian rivers and in 39 Norwegian fish farms. In affected rivers, the mortality of Atlantic salmon juveniles is very high, estimated to a mean of 86%. G. salaris has been considered one of the biggest threats to wild Norwegian Atlantic salmon stocks. With various measures, the authorities have reduced the potential for further spread of the parasite to new rivers and fish farms, and G. salaris has been eradicated from 43 rivers and all fish farms. Furthermore, the eradication process is almost completed in five affected rivers located at the Norwegian west coast, while preparations for the eradication in the remaining five rivers in the southeastern part of Norway have begun. The goal of Norwegian management is to eradicate the introduced pathogenic G. salaris strains from all occurrences in Norway. In fish farms, the parasite has been removed by mandatory slaughter of infected fish. In rivers, G. salaris has mostly been removed by killing all the fish hosts with rotenone. The indigenous genetic Atlantic salmon stocks are re-established after eradication of the parasite. New methods are developed using chemicals that kill the parasite without killing fish in the rivers. Norwegian authorities have so far used more than NOK 1.5 billion on research, monitoring and combating G. salaris. However, the benefits are considered many times greater than the spending. Without control measures, G. salaris would likely have spread to new Atlantic salmon rivers where the same catastrophic outcome had to be expected. The Norwegian authorities seem to meet the goal in their long-term work to halt the spread of G. salaris and to eradicate the parasite in affected rivers.

En angelsaksisk steinkirke på opphavsstedet til Norges tidligste helgenkult? Nye spor funnet på Selja - St Sunnivas og Seljemennenes helligdom

The island Selja on the Norwegian West coast is the alleged martyr site of the saints of St Sunniva and the Seljumen, who according to the legend lived and died in the 10th century. The concentration of ruins on the island reveals the importance of the site during the Middle Ages which was closely connected to the legend of saints. The site shows the remains of a bishop’s church, a Benedictine abbey, a rockshelter chapel and a terrace complex in the hillside. The additional ruins of a pilgrim’s church which stand in front of the rockshelter, have now been investigated in relation to an ongoing conservation. The investigation has revealed unknown traces of an early building phase in the pilgrim’s church, which is interpreted as a stone chapel constructed before the episcopal see was established at Selja c.1068-70. Previously undocumented architectural features indicate Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship, which is further supported by the site’s historical context. The article further argues that this unusual early stone chapel must be the result of impulses from across the North Sea, at a time when Anglo Saxon priests and Christian conceptions were brought with the efforts of conversion and royal conquest. It also discusses what it meant for the development of cult of saints on the island and Selja as a holy site.

European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) in aquaculture – Nutritional, chemical, and physicochemical quality compared to wild stocks

European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is among Europe's top-consumed fish species, but wild stocks fluctuate and change their habitat due to drastic changes in climate. Their potential in aquaculture is under consideration, and therefore multiple quality aspects have been evaluated in this study. The chemical composition, nutritional profile, and physicochemical properties of European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) from aquaculture and wild origin (Norwegian west-coast) and differences between female and male farmed individuals were studied. Differences between farmed and wild fish were found for the proximate composition, nutritional profile, and physicochemical attributes. Farmed fish generally had paler color (higher L*; 78.7 ± 4.2) but showed reduced water holding capacity (WHC; 80.3 ± 8.1%), but a firmer fillet texture compared to wild plaice. Farmed fish had significantly higher lipid and lower ash contents than wild individuals. Farmed fish's free amino acid (FAA) content (265.6 ± 59.0 mg/ 100 g) was significantly higher than in wild fish (89.72 ± 43.6 mg/ 100 g), especially the taste contributing FAA glutamate, glycine, alanine, and tyrosine. However, large individual varieties in FAA were observed within farmed and wild specimens. Farmed fish's fatty acid (FA) profile reflects the feed's composition. The overall quality of farmed European plaice was comparable to wild individuals with an excellent nutritional profile. Gender comparisons in farmed fish has shown that females were paler (higher L*) and showed higher hue (h) values, lower color saturation (Chroma, C), and yellowness (a*) compared to males. No apparent difference in texture was found, and no correlations between WHC and pH nor WHC and water content were detected between females and males. Farmed male individuals had higher lipid (2.35 ± 1.5%) and protein (16.97 ± 1.1%) concentrations compared to females (1.72 ± 1.1%; 15.52 ± 1.7%). The overall findings of this study are promising to further investigate this species for cultivation as a sustainable food resource.

Diabetic retinopathy and visual impairment in a Norwegian diabetic coast population with a high dietary intake of fish oils. An observational study.

To present retinal and visual findings in a Norwegian west coast diabetic population and to elucidate the effect of dietary intake of marine polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). In an eye practice in an archipelago of 314 km², serving a population of about 40 000, we recorded the prevalence of visual impairment and DR in a referred diabetic population. 510 consecutive patients were included, 238 females and 272 males. 50 patients had type I and 460 had type II diabetes mellitus (DM). Self-reported medication, diet supplements, HbA1c and fish consumption were registered. In the type I group, the median age was 44.5 and median DM duration 11.5 years [1-44]. 48% had photographic evidence of DR, 8 patients (16%) had proliferative retinopathy (PDR), and 6 patients (12%) had diabetic macular oedema (DME). All had best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 0.5 (log MAR 0.3) or better in the best eye. In the type II group, the median DM duration was 8 years [1-53], and median age was 66. 98% had best eye BCVA at or better than 0.5 (log MAR 0.3) in the best eye. None of the 510 patients had BCVA worse than 0.3 (log MAR 0.48) due to diabetic retinopathy. Compared to similar studies, we found a very low visual impairment rate. A possible protective effect of PUFA on the prevalence and progression of diabetic microangiopathy including retinopathy is discussed.

Experimental investigation on the structural response of RC slabs subjected to combined fire and blast

Reinforced concrete (RC) submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) represent a possible solution for crossing wide, deep fjords, and is considered for the E39 highway route along the Norwegian west coast. With regard to SFTs, the specific accidental scenario that is under investigation is the combined action of fire and subsequent internal explosion, as this is a crucial safety design condition for this type of structure. To assess the structural performance of reinforced concrete structures under combined fire and blast actions, gas burner equipment and a shock tube device were used to generate high temperature and blast loading, respectively, on RC circular slabs. A proper set of instruments consisting of thermocouples embedded in the specimens, accelerometers and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) equipment made it possible to capture the behaviour of the slabs under the combined fire and blast actions and to distinguish the specific role of fire and blast. Simplified numerical tools such as an equivalent elastic single degree of freedom (SDOF) model and a linear elastic finite element (FE) model were used to interpret the experimental results. By considering all combinations of three fire exposure times and two shock waves, the effect of damage accumulation from a combined action of fire and subsequent internal explosion was mapped. A reliable benchmark for numerical models was obtained.

Wave? What wave? Testing for impact of the Garth tsunami (3500 BCE) on Neolithic coastal settlements in Western Norway

This paper evaluates to what extent archaeological settlement sites from the Norwegian west coast exhibit traces of a paleotsunami impact in the mid-4th mill BCE. The timing of the Garth tsunami (~3500 cal BCE), as inferred from lake basins in Eastern Shetland and in Western Norway, coincides with the Early-Middle Neolithic transition in the Western Norwegian chronology. Before and after the Garth tsunami, the west coast of Norway was populated by hunter-fisher-gatherers highly adapted to a marine environment. If the Garth tsunami had a direct impact on coastal settlements, the event could become an important mediating factor for research on the Early-Middle Neolithic transition in this region. The paper investigates radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic evidence from 15 coastal settlement sites. It applies Bayesian sequence calculation to test for congruence between site activity phases and the tsunami event, and a Monte Carlo based frequency analysis to test for population fluctuations. Results from these analyses do not support the hypothesis of a catastrophic impact on the hunter-fisher-gatherer population in Western Norway.

Marine Plastics from Norwegian West Coast Carry Potentially Virulent Fish Pathogens and Opportunistic Human Pathogens Harboring New Variants of Antibiotic Resistance Genes.

To our best knowledge this is the first study characterizing fish pathogens isolated from marine plastics from the West coast of Norway for their potential for pathogenicity using whole genome sequencing. Marine plastic polymers identified as polyethylene, polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer and polypropylene, yielded a total of 37 bacterial isolates dominated by Pseudomonas spp. (70%). Six isolates representing either fish pathogens or opportunistic human pathogens were selected for whole genome sequencing (WGS). These included four isolates belonging to Aeromonas spp., one Acinetobacter beijerinckii isolate and one Morganella morganii isolate. Three Aeromonas salmonicida isolates were potentially virulent and carried virulence factors involved in attachment, type II and type VI secretion systems as well as toxins such as aerA/act, ahh1, ast, hlyA, rtxA and toxA. A. salmonicida and Acinetobacter beijerinckii carried new variants of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) such as β-lactamases and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (catB), whereas Morganella morganii carried several clinically relevant ARGs. Our study shows that marine plastics carry not only potentially virulent fish pathogens but also multidrug resistant opportunistic human pathogens like M. morganii and may serve as vectors for transport of these pathogens in the marine environment.

Front–orography interactions during landfall of the 1992 New Year's Day Storm

Abstract. Although following a common synoptic evolution for this region, the 1992 New Year's Day Storm was associated with some of the strongest winds observed along the Norwegian west coast. The narrow wind band along its bent-back front became famous as the “poisonous tail” and paved the way towards today's sting jet terminology. This article re-examines the storm's landfall with a particular focus on the interaction with the orography. Sensitivity analyses based on WRF simulations demonstrate that the formation and the evolution of the warm-air seclusion and its poisonous tail are largely independent of orography. In contrast, the warm sector of the storm undergoes considerable orographically induced modifications. While moving over the orography, both warm and cold fronts are eroded rapidly. This development fits neither the cold-air-damming paradigm nor the passive-advection paradigm describing front–orography interactions. The warm sector is lifted over the orography, thereby accelerating the occlusion process. The insensitivity of the warm-air seclusion to the orographic modifications of the warm sector raises the question of to which extent these entities are still interacting after the onset of the occlusion process.

Interprofessional learning for nursing students in practice periods: problems to overcome and possibilities for uniprofessional campuses.

There is an urgent need for educational institutions to prepare students for collaborative practices in health care in the years to come. Facilitation of interprofessional learning (IPL) can be challenging for small campuses with few healthcare and social care education programmes. The aim of this study was to identify hindrances to, and opportunities for accessible interprofessional learning, for nursing students in a uniprofessional learning environment on the Norwegian West coast. Three focus group interviews were conducted with the following groups: nursing teachers, a hospital rehabilitation team and informants from a municipal home rehabilitation team. The data were analysed by hermeneutical phenomenological method. The following four main themes emerged the following: the tradition for interprofessional learning is not yet well established, IPL in the context of existing teams is better than IPL with other students, there is an urgent need to strengthen and adjust professional responsibilities and roles, and there is a need for communication to overcome hindrances to IPL.

Shortsea liner network design with transhipments at sea: a case study from Western Norway

Short Sea Pioneer (SSP) is a novel concept for shortsea shipping. The concept is based on daughter ships acting as feeder vessels that meet with the mother ship at suitable locations at sea to tranship cargo. Such a system requires that the routes of both mother ship and daughter ships are synchronized. We provide a path flow formulation for the problem of determining the optimal set of routes for both ships. Non-dominated routes are generated a priori using a dynamic programming label-setting algorithm and used as input for the model. We use the model and solution approach to solve a real-world case from the Norwegian west coast. The results can be used to determine the optimal routes for mother and daughter ships as well as the optimal size of the daughter ships.

The large-scale circulation during air quality hazards in Bergen, Norway

In this study, we assessed the large-scale circulation anomalies leading to wintertime air pollution episodes in Bergen, Norway. Bergen is an example of a city, where a strong interplay between large-scale and local circulation features is relevant. Certain large-scale circulation regimes that are different from the usually assumed large-scale stagnation, lead to local air pollution episodes. We assessed these circulation regimes and their predictability. For this, we modified and applied a previously developed atmospheric circulation proxy for the identification of air pollution episodes. Use of this proxy on data from a high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model showed a good reproduction of the total number of potentially polluted days per month and their inter-monthly variability. We also found a link between the persistence of the flow above the Bergen valley and the occurrence and severity of the local air pollution episodes. Analysis of the large-scale circulation over the North Atlantic-European region, with respect to air pollution in Bergen, revealed that the persistence in the meteorological conditions connected to the air pollution episodes is not necessarily caused by large-scale anomalies of the atmospheric circulation over the Norwegian west coast. It is rather connected to anomalies further upstream as far away as Greenland.

Obituary - In Memoriam Per Brandtzaeg.

Obituary - In Memoriam Per Brandtzaeg.

Temporal and spatial patterns of reproductive indices of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the northern North Sea and Norwegian coastal areas

Spatial and temporal patterns of reproductive maturity were examined for European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the northern North Sea, the Skagerrak and the Norwegian mid-west coast. Maturity stages based on macroscopic examination of gonads and Gonadosomatic Index data were collected from annual scientific surveys conducted in winter, summer, and autumn 2011–2015. Our observations show that spawning activity is highest in July in the central and northern North Sea. Very few hake in spawning condition were found in January and February in the northern North Sea and Skagerrak. Macroscopic staging showed high numbers of post-spawning hake in October/November along the Norwegian west coast north of 62°N, suggesting that main spawning occurs in this area in August/September. Fish in spawning condition occurred mainly in depths from 80–120m at stations with sea surface temperatures between 12 and 15°C and bottom temperatures of 6.5–8.5°C. Our results confirm that European hake has an extended spawning season with a peak later in the year in more northern waters. Occurrence of spawning north of 62°N along the Norwegian coast and an intra-annual variation of length frequency distributions indicate migrations and more complex population dynamics of hake in its northern range than previously assumed.

A Comparison of LiDAR and Radiosonde Wind Measurements

Doppler LiDAR measurements are already well established in the wind energy research and their accuracy has been tested against met mast data up to 100 m above ground. However, the new generation of scanning LiDAR have a much higher range and thus it is not possible to verify measurements at higher altitudes. Therefore, the LiDAR Measurement Campaign Sola (LIMECS) was conducted at the airport of Stavanger from March to August 2013 to compare LiDAR and radiosonde winds. It was a collaborative test campaign between the University of Bergen, the Norwegian Meteorological Office (MET), Christian Michelsen Research (CMR) and Avinor. With the airports’ location at the Norwegian West Coast, additional motivations were the investigations in characteristics of coastal winds, as well as the validation of the LES turbulence forecast for the airport of Stavanger. We deployed two Windcubes v1 and a scanning Windcube 100S at two different sites in Sola, one next to the runway and the other one near to the autosonde from MET. The Windcube 100S scans several cross-sections of the ambient flow on hourly basis. In combination with wind profiles up to 200 m (Windcubes v1) and 3km (Windcube 100S) and temporally more frequent radiosonde ascents, we collect a variety of wind information in the coastal atmospheric boundary layer. First results show increasing correlation of 0.95 to 0.99 for increasing measurement heights (125 to 1325 m) between the scanning LiDAR wind profiles and the radiosonde horizontal wind speeds. Though the number of LiDAR measurements decreases with increasing height, the measurements seem to correlate better with the radiosonde data in high altitudes.

Decadal variability of clouds, solar radiation and temperature at a high-latitude coastal site in Norway

The observed variability of shortwave (SW) irradiance, clouds and temperature and the potential connections between them is studied for the subarctic site Bergen (60.4°N, 5.3°E), located on the Norwegian west coast. Focusing on the quality and spatial representativity of the data, we compare observations from independent instruments and neighbouring measurement sites. The observations indicate that the decrease of sunshine duration and SW irradiance during the 1970s and 80s in Bergen is associated with the increasing frequency of clouds, in particular clouds of low base heights. We argue that the observed cloud changes are indicative of increased frequencies of storms in northern Europe. The annual mean observational time series show an increase in SW irradiance since 1990, which is not accompanied by a cloud cover (NN) decrease. This implies the influence of factors other than clouds, for example, decreasing aerosol emissions. Calculations of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) based on irradiance observations for hours when the sun is unobscured by clouds confirm a decreasing aerosol load after 1990, from 0.15 to 0.10 AOD which corresponds to 2–6 Wm−2 of brightening. At the same time, a seasonal analysis reveals opposite changes in SW irradiance and NN during the months of strongest changes – March, April and August – also during the recent period of increasing SW irradiance. We conclude that the seasonally decreasing NN also contributes to the recent changes in SW irradiance. Finally, we address the relationship between temperature, SW irradiance and clouds. In winter (December–February), the surface air temperature in Bergen is statistically linked to the warming influence of clouds. In all other seasons, the North Atlantic sea surface temperature variability has a more dominant influence on the air temperature in Bergen compared to local cloud and SW irradiance variability.

The origin of Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla wintering on the British Isles

A migration route leading central European breeder Blackcaps to their winter quarters in Britain and Ireland was discovered in the 1960s. This phenomenon, representing a rapid evolutionary change of migratory behavior, can be explained by a shift in migration course towards the west and north-west (as opposed to the standard south-west direction) or reverse migration. These hypotheses were evaluated by analyzing the recoveries of Blackcaps either ringed or recovered on the British Isles. Blackcaps arriving in the British Isles from Scandinavia had been ringed over two weeks later than had been birds arriving from Central Western Europe, while no significant difference was found in the recovery dates of birds from these regions. Moreover, birds ringed in Scandinavia were recovered significantly later on the British Isles than in the continental Europe. This finding suggests that two populations migrate through Scandinavia: the local breeding population (migrating towards the south) and another with an unknown origin (possibly Central European, heading towards the north and west). Thus, some of the Blackcaps ringed in Utsira on the Norwegian west coast, and ending up to the British Isles, might be of Central European origin.

Characteristics of autumn-winter extreme precipitation on the Norwegian west coast identified by cluster analysis

Extremely high autumn and winter precipitation events on the European west coast are often driven by low-pressure systems in the North Atlantic. Climate projections suggest the number and intensity of these events is likely to increase far more than the mean precipitation. In this study we investigate the autumn-winter extreme precipitation on the Norwegian west coast and the connection between its spatial distribution and sea level pressure (SLP) patterns using the k-means cluster analysis. We use three relatively high resolved downscalings of one global coupled model: the Arpege global atmospheric model (stretched grid with 35-km horizontal resolution over Norway) and the WRF-downscaled Arpege model (30 and 10-km) for the 30-year periods of 1961–1990 and 2021–2050. The cluster analysis finds three main SLP patterns responsible for extreme precipitation in different parts of the country. The SLP patterns found are similar to the NAO positive pattern known to strengthen the westerly flow towards European coast. We then apply the method to investigate future change in extreme precipitation. We find an increase in the number of days with extreme precipitation of 15, 39 and 35% in the two simulations (Arpege 35-km and WRF 30 and 10-km, respectively). We do not find evidence of a significant change in the frequency of weather patterns between the present and the future periods. Rather, it is the probability of a given weather pattern to cause extreme precipitation which is increased in the future, probably due to higher temperatures and an increased moisture content of the air. The WRF model predicts the increase in this probability caused by the most important SLP patterns to be >50%. The Arpege model does not predict such a significant change because the general increase in extreme precipitation predicted is smaller, probably due to its coarser resolution over ocean which leads to smoother representation of the low pressure systems.

CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad–Design, functionality and emissions of the amine plant

Abstract The CO 2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) project is constructing two large post-combustion CO 2 capture demonstration plants near the Statoil operated Mongstad refinery, located at the Norwegian west coast north of Bergen. TCM’s partners are Gassnova, Statoil, Sasol and Norske Shell. This paper describes the amine plant. The amine plant is designed and constructed by the CO 2 capture technology provider Aker Clean Carbon (ACC) with specifications and additional generic functionalities defined by TCM. Several new technology elements will be tested and verified, including improved solvents. Monoethanolamine and a new ACC solvent will be tested during the initial 16 months of operations. Thereafter tests will be run by the TCM partners. The quality and quantity of the emissions from the absorber to air have become top priority. Currently they represent a health and environmental uncertainty, mainly due to the lack of reliable and accessible experimental data. While knowledge and experience of these emissions are rapidly increasing, an emission permit is being applied for. The amine plant is highly flexible and can combine several novel technologies. Due to its scale it will give valuable information on utility and space requirements, scale-up properties and contribute to reducing HSE risks and costs.

Simultaneous CO 2 injection and water production to optimise aquifer storage capacity

The estimates for geological CO 2 storage capacity worldwide vary, but it is generally believed that the capacity in saline aquifers will be sufficient for the amounts of CO 2 that will need to be stored. The effort required to select and qualify a geological storage site for safe storage will, however, be significant and storage capacity may be a limited resource regionally. Both from a economic and resource management perspective it is therefore important that potential storage sites are exploited to their full potential. In static capacity estimates, where the maximum stored amount of CO 2 is given as a fraction of the formation pore volume, typically arrive at efficiency factors in the range of a few per cents. Recent work has shown that when the dynamic behaviour of the injected CO 2 is taken into account, the efficiency factor will be reduced because of the increase in pore pressure in the region around the injection well(s). The increase in pore pressure will propagate much further than the CO 2. The EU directive on geological CO 2 storage specifically addresses the restriction that will apply when different storage sites are interacting due to pressure communication. Consequently, the pore pressure increase at the boundary of the storage license area will be an important limiting factor for the amount of CO 2 that can be injected. One obvious method to control the pore pressure is to produce water from the aquifer at some distance from the CO 2 injection wells. This paper discusses results from simulations of CO 2 injection in two aquifers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf; the Johansen aquifer and the southern part of the Utsira aquifer. These aquifers are candidates for injection of CO 2 shipped out via pipeline from the Norwegian West Coast. The injected amounts of CO 2 over a period of 50 years are 0.518 Gtonne for the Johansen aquifer and 1.04 Gtonne for the Utsira aquifer. Several design options for the injection operations are investigated: Injection of CO 2 without water production; injection into several wells to distribute the injected fluids and reduce the local pressure increase around each injection well; and injection with simultaneous production of water from one or more wells. The boundaries of the aquifer formations are assumed closed in all simulations. The possible consequences of other types of boundary conditions (semi-closed or open) are briefly discussed.

Bioavailability of hexabromocyclododecane to the polychaete Hediste diversicolor: Exposure through sediment and food from a contaminated fjord

Knowledge of the bioavailability of brominated flame retardants for sediment-dwelling organisms is limited. The present study investigated bioaccumulation of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in the ragworm Hediste diversicolor exposed to field-contaminated sediments and food. Sediments and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) were sampled from a fjord on the Norwegian west coast known to be highly contaminated with the brominated flame retardant HBCD. During a four-week experiment, ragworms were either exposed to sediment containing moderate or high concentrations of HBCD, or they were fed contaminated soft tissue from mussel. Although mean sediment concentrations were as high as 40 microg/g dry weight in the contaminated sediments, no HBCD were detected in the exposed ragworms (detection limit up to 2.0 ng/g wet wt). In contrast, the exposure to contaminated food (mussel) resulted in elevated body concentrations of 9.1 ng HBCD/g wet weight. The partitioning of HBCD in the test-sediments appeared to be influenced by the quantity and quality of the sediment organic matter (up to 15% total organic carbon). The presence of small plastic beads (<2 mm), which were shown to contain a mean of 50 microg/g dry weight of HBCD, could explain the low bioavailability of the flame retardant in the sediment. Hexabromocyclododecane in food appeared to be readily assimilated in the ragworm, however, and the diastereomer pattern indicated a relative increase of alpha-HBCD from mussel to ragworm. Hence, in the sampled areas of the fjord, trophic transfer appeared to be a more important mechanism for the entry of HBCD into the local benthic food web than sediment-to-biota accumulation.