Drs. Pecher and Coffin are coleaders with Dr. Lowell Stott (University of Southern California) to organize an International Ocean Discovery Plan (IODP) research expedition on the Chatham Rise off of the Eastern Coast of New Zealand, where we observed methane gas hydrate instability and gas escape that coincided with raised temperature and lowered pressure. During June and July 2020 Dr. Pecher lead an expedition to obtain… Read more »
Dr. Coffin is working with Provectus Environmental Products to apply isotope geochemical analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to confirm statements from the New Jersey Environmental Protection Agency about a company’s contribution to New Jersey Hackensack River contamination.
Dr. Coffin is working with Total Machining Solutions on applying harmonic frequency cascade (HFC) to oil refining and desulfurization. HFC provides capability to refine oil to different petroleum stocks and remove sulfur in oil. This novel work provides technical, environmental, and financial benefits such as: • Environmental reductions in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gas emissions, • Portable fuel refining capability available to remote locations or onboard… Read more »
Drs. Kvamme and Coffin have been actively consulting and developing programs with Southwest Petroleum Research University in Chengdu and China National Offshore Oil Corporation in Beijing, China. Work topics focus on CO2 sequestration and related classroom teaching and experimentation with SWPU. With CNOOC there are discussions developing for installation of state of the art geochemical laboratories, and gas hydrate exploration in the South China Sea.
Environmental Geotechnics Chen, L. Merey, S., Pecher, I. Okajima, J. Komya, A., Diaz-Naveas, J., Li, S., Maruyama, S., Kalachand, S. Kvamme, B., Coffin, R. Methane hydrate has become one promising energy resource for humankind. In this study, recent worldwide onshore/offshore drilling and production activities are analyzed. The most recent reports from sites such as Japan (2013 and 2017) and China (2017) show that the road towards… Read more »
Frontiers in Marine Science. Akam, S.A., Coffin, R.B., Abdulla, H.A., Lyons, T.A. Our data synthesis and broad interpretation emphasizes the importance of SMTZ as not only a methane sink but also an important diagenetic front for global DIC cycling. We further underscore the need to incorporate a DIC pump in methane-charged shallow marine sediments to models for coastal and geologic carbon cycling. This new understanding will… Read more »
Remediation Coffin, R., Mueller, J. Methane (CH4) in ecosystems originates from ancient petroleum formed deep within the earth and/or via microbial fermentation of organic carbon and subsequent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2). Given the complexity of different ecosystems, origins of CH4 present can be difficult to determine. This issue was realized in a situation where an antimethanogenic in situ chemical reduction (ISCR) remedial amendment containing organic… Read more »
Dr. Coffin and Dr. Pecher submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation to conduct 16 weeks at sea over two years working down in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica on deep ocean warming and the volumes of methane and oil in this region. Expectations from this research include: 1) Ross Sea high resolution seismic data; 2) an expanded Antarctica coastal seismic data… Read more »
Paleoceanography And Paleoclimatology Stott, L., Davy, B. Shao, J. Coffin, R., Pecher, I., Neil, H., Rose, P. Seafloor pockmarks of varying size occur over an area of 50,000 km2 on the Chatham Rise, Canterbury Shelf and Inner Bounty Trough, New Zealand. The pockmarks are concentrated above the flat‐subducted Hikurangi Plateau. Echosounder data identify recurrent episodes of pockmark formation at ~100,000‐year frequency coinciding with Pleistocene glacial terminations…. Read more »
Paleoceanography Shao, J., Stott, L., Gray, W.R., Rae, J.W.B., Greenop, R., Pecher, I., Coffin, R.B., Neil, H. Identifying processes within the Earth System that have modulated atmospheric pCO2 during each glacial cycle of the late Pleistocene stands as one of the grand challenges in climate science. The growing array of surface ocean pH estimates from the boron isotope proxy across the last glacial termination may reveal… Read more »