Stress-induced borehole deformation analysis in the Collisional Orogeny in the Scandinavian Caledonide deep scientific borehole establishes in situ stress orientation in a poorly characterized region in central Sweden. Two acoustic televiewer logging campaigns, with more than 1 year between campaigns, provide detailed images along the full length of the 2.5 km deep borehole for breakout, drilling-induced tensile fracture (DITF), and natural occurring structural analysis. Borehole breakouts occur in 13 distinct zones along total length of 22 m, indicating an average maximum horizontal stress, SHmax, orientation of 127° ± 12°. Infrequent DITFs are constrained within one zone from 786 to 787 m depth (SHmax orientation: 121° ± 07°). These SHmax orientations are in agreement with the general trend in Scandinavia and are in accordance with many mechanisms that generate crustal stress (e.g., ridge push, topographic loading, and mantel driven stresses). The unique acquisition of image logs in two successions allows for analysis of time-dependent borehole deformation, indicating that six breakout zones have crept, both along the borehole axis and radially around the borehole. Strong dynamic moduli measured on core samples and an inferred weak in situ stress anisotropy inhibit the formation of breakouts and DITFs. Natural fracture orientation below 800 m is congruent to extensional or hybrid brittle shear failure along the same trend as the current SHmax. Analysis of foliation in the image logs reinforces the interpretation that the discontinuous seismic reflectors with fluctuating dip observed in seismic profiles are due to recumbent folding and boudinage.

Knowledge of the in situ stress state gives information on dynamic processes, for example, earthquakes within the Earth, and is also applied to various geotechnical drilling and excavation projects. This paper analyzes stress-induced deformation features in image logs that span the length of the 2.5 km deep borehole in Central Scandinavia, to address the subsurface stresses in the region. We identified a stress orientation in the borehole that is oriented parallel to the general trend in Scandinavia. This orientation is compatible with many drivers of stresses including pushing and pulling forces on the sides from the crust, gravitational loading from mountain ranges, and driving below due to flow of the mantle. A unique observation from this study is that some breakouts have grown both along and radially around the borehole wall. Such radial breakout growth around the borehole will affect how the magnitude of subsurface stresses is estimated.

Much of the seismic activity of northern Sweden consists of micro-earthquakes occurring near postglacial faults. However, larger magnitude earthquakes do occur in Sweden, and earthquake statistics indicate that a magnitude 5 event is likely to occur once every century. This paper presents dynamic analyses of the effects of larger earthquakes on an upstream tailings dam at the Aitik copper mine in northern Sweden. The analyses were performed to evaluate the potential for liquefaction and to assess stability of the dam under two specific earthquakes: a commonly occurring magnitude 3.6 event and a more extreme earthquake of magnitude 5.8. The dynamic analyses were carried out with the finite element program PLAXIS using a recently implemented constitutive model called UBCSAND. The results indicate that the magnitude 5.8 earthquake would likely induce liquefaction in a limited zone located below the ground surface near the embankment dikes. It is interpreted that stability of the dam may not be affected due to the limited extent of the liquefied zone. Both types of earthquakes are predicted to induce tolerable magnitudes of displacements. The results of the postseismic slope stability analysis, performed for a state after a seismic event, suggest that the dam is stable during both the earthquakes

The Zagros fold and thrust belt represents a tectonically significant area, and one of the richest areas in oil and gas reservoirs in the world. The Zagros fold and thrust belt is the deformational product of the Cretaceous-present day convergence of the Arabian and Iranian (Eurasian) plates (subduction and collision). The belt extends more than 2000 km from southern Turkey through the north and northeastern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in southwestern Iran. The Zagros fold and thrust belt is divided into two parts which are; Western part within Iraqi region and Eastern part within Iranian region. The western part of the Zagros fold and thrust belt has been traditionally subdivided into several structural zones that are generally striking parallel to the plate boundary. This is characterized by exposure of Late Ordovician to Pliocene - Pliestocene formations with different types of Quaternary Sediments. This research will concentrate on Western part of Zagros fold and thrust belt and the styles of structural classifications, which will aid to clarify and better understand the tectonic and structural history and evolution of the region. We have considered the last version of structural classification as the most relevant one to the reality, especially within outer platform (Unstable shelf). Where it divides the region into four structural zones, which are: Low Folded zone, High Folded Zone, Imbricate Zone, and Zagros Suture Zone and these zones were further divided to several subzones. This classification is based on the structural style and intensity of deformation, stratigraphy, mechanicalstratigraphy and tectono-stratigraphy of the deformed sequences, Age of deformation, surface physiography and morphology. The data used in the classification is more reliable, up to date and relevant.

The EGU General Assembly 2016 was held under the conference theme “Active Planet” from 16-22 April 2016 in Vienna, Austria. The program consisted of 619 unique scientific sessions and 321 side events. A total of 16,300 contributions were presented in the form of posters (64%), oral presentations (30%) and interactive content (PICO, 6%). The 13,650 participants originate from 109 countries, of which the majority were early career scientists (53%) and students (25%). Over the last decade, EGU has expanded in terms of number of scientific contributions (62% increase) and number of participants (57% increase).

The scientific program of the Division Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE) was organized around six main groups of sessions: (1) integrated studies, (2) impact of energy and resource exploitation on the environment, (3) non-carbon based energy, (4) carbon based energy, (5) geo-storage for a sustainable future, and (6) geo-materials from natural resources. The division hosted 19 sessions and co-organized further 13 with others. In total, 458 presentations came from ERE, corresponding to almost 3% of all contributions of the EGU General Assembly 2016.

This special issue presents some of the current and coming applied research topics within the fields of energy, resources and the environment, and also documents the ERE activities at the recent EGU General Assembly. Below, a brief description of the scientific program [1] is given, sorted with respect to the six main groups of sessions. Comparable overview issues were published in Energy Procedia in previous years [2-4].

The Division Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE) of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) provides an international platform for scientists from a wide range of fields with the common denominator that their research topics have high societal relevance. The ERE community develops approaches for the solution of global economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability based on interdisciplinary research on adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources in environmentally sustainable ways. This special issue presents contributions of the ERE division at the EGU General Assembly in 2016.

We have measured physical- and geomechanical properties of a core sample that was collected from 1.6 km depth at the Heletz site in Israel, within reservoir rock, layer A. The core sample is composed of poorly consolidated sandstone, with several layers of coarser grain sizes. Average bulk density and porosity are 1.93 ± 0.11 g/cm3 and 36 ± 5%, respectively.Both nondestructive and destructive tests have been made on the core sample and its subsamples, including CT-scanning, oedometer tests, drained direct shear tests, as well as measurements of index properties, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. These tests provide an initial evaluation of the properties of the reservoir rock, but are far from capturing epistemic variability of the reservoir rock. The results support the macroscopic observation, that the sample is poorly consolidated compared to its depth of deposition. The effective pre-consolidation pressure is less than 0.2 MPa and the maximum peak shear strength obtained is less than 1 MPa (normal stress = 1 MPa). In comparison, effective vertical stress from weight of the overlying rocks is estimated to 14 MPa using the average bulk density of the core. All measurements suggest that our reservoir rock sample is extremely weak with respect to its depth of deposition.

This paper presents the results from a series of physical measurements conducted on core samples from the Swedish part of the southern Baltic Sea. The samples consist of 16 Cambrian sandstone samples (potential reservoir rock) and 9 Ordovician limestone samples (potential caprock). The two rock types reveal contrasting properties; axial P-wave velocity and density for the sandstone samples are 3.14±0.95km/s and 2.26±0.12 gr/cm³, respectively while for the limestone samples they are 6.09±0.22km/s and 2.58±0.08 gr/cm³, respectively. The scatter of the evaluated properties indicates aleatory variability and epistemic uncertainty in the properties which can be better addressed by further tests on more samples.

The European Geosciences Union brings together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, covering all disciplines of the earth sciences. This geoscientific inter- and multi- disciplinarity is needed to tackle the challenges of the future. A major challenge for humankind is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources. These should be obtained in environmentally sustainable ways, which is essential for economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability around the world. This issue gives a general overview of contributions during the General Assembly 2015 in the division for Energy, Resources & the Environment.

Melting of the Weichselian ice sheet at ≈10 000 BP is inferred to have induced large to great intraplate earthquakes in northern Fennoscandia. Over a dozen large so-called postglacial faults (PGF) have been found, mainly using aerial photogrammetry, trenching, and recognition of numerous paleolandslides in the vicinity of the faults (e.g. Lagerbäck & Sundh 2008). Recent LiDAR-based mapping led to the extension of known PGFs, the discovery of new segments of existing PGFs, and a number of new suspected PGFs (Smith et al. 2014; Mikko et al. 2015). The PGFs in Fennoscandia occur within 14-25°E and 61-69°N; the majority are within Swedish territory. PGFs generally are prominent features, up to 155 km in length and 30 m maximum surface offset. The most intense microseismic activity in Sweden occurs near PGFs. The seismogenic zone of the longest known PGF (Pärvie fault zone, PFZ) extends to ≈40 km depth. From fault geometry and earthquake scaling relations, the paleomagnitude of PFZ is estimated to 8.0±0.3 (Lindblom et al. 2015). The new high-resolution LiDAR-derived elevation model of Sweden offers an unprecedented opportunity to constrain the surface geometry of the PGFs. The objective is to reach more detailed knowledge of the surface offset across their scarps. This distribution provides a one-dimensional view of the slip distribution during the inferred paleorupture. The second objective is to analyze the pattern of vertical displacement of the hanging wall, to obtain a two-dimensional view of the displaced area that is linked to the fault geometry at depth. The anticipated results will further constrain the paleomagnitude of PGFs and will be incorporated into future modeling efforts to investigate the nature of PGFs.

Pre-existing bedrock structures that reactivated following deglaciation through a combination of tectonic and isostatic stresses are well documented in northern Fennoscandia. Due to their possible implications for seismic hazards, there is a need to document the locations and geometries of these features. The recent availability of a high-resolution, LiDAR-derived, digital elevation model coveringmost of Sweden provides an ideal base upon which to map post-glacial fault scarps that appear to crosscut glacial sediments and landforms. The current mapping project has identified new post-glacial fault scarps in central Sweden, and both refined and rejected scarps previously mapped by aerial photographicinterpretation in northern Sweden. No post-glacial fault scarps, however, were identified in southern Sweden. The current inventory of post-glacial fault scarps is available for download and will be updated as more data become available.