How much, if any, shale gas is in the Karoo Basin?

129 Pages·2015·17.48 MB·English

AEON-ESSRI
Earth Stewardship Science
Research Institute
Meeting new challenges in Africa
AEON-ESSRI aims to provide a research and
educational environment to seek consilient
knowledge and engagement amongst
earth and life sciences, engineering, resource
economics, human and cultural sciences through
application and dissemination of
Earth Stewardship Science.
www.aeon.org.za
www.nmmu.ac.za
AEON Report on Inkaba yeAfrica/!Khure Africa programs
2013-2014
Table of Contents
1. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. PHASE III - INKABA YEAFRICA & !KHURE AFRICA ‘INCORPORATED’ ............................................. 3
3. IYA !KA CAPACITY BUILDING AND STUDENTS - 2013/2014 ................................................................... 3
4. STUDENT AND POST DOC PROJECTS- RANDOMLY SELECTED EXAMPLES .................................... 7
5. FUTURE EARTH 10TH ANNUAL WORKSHOP ............................................................................................ 35
6. THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TRAIN ................................................................................................. 40
7. A TYPICAL TRAIN JOURNEY FROM JHB TO MATJIESFONTEIN ........................................................ 42
8. HARTRAO - EARTH AND OCEAN MONITORING NETWORK ACROSS SOUTHERN AFRICA ....... 43
9. BASELINE STUDIES AHEAD OF SHALE-GAS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE KAROO ............................ 45
10. THE SECOND GLOBAL CHANGE CONFERENCE ...................................................................................... 49
11. LINKS WITH TERRASCOPE PROGRAM OF MIT, USA ............................................................................. 51
12. 2014 FINANCE AND EXPENDITURES – SUMMARY ................................................................................... 54
13. APPENDIXES ....................................................................................................................................................... 55
I. STUDENT DATA…………………………………………………………….………………………56
II. FUTURE EARTH 10TH ANNUAL WORKSHOP………………………….…………………….60
III. TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY YEAR REPORT………….………………….98
IV. HARTRAO STUDENT REPORTS………………………………………………………………..110
V. OTHER STUDENT REPORTS……………………………………………………………………115
VI. WS LISTINGS 2007 TO 2014…………………………………………………………………...…119
VII. INKABA PROJECT LISTS………………………………………………………………………..121
VIII. INKABA PARTICIPANTS AND PARTNERS……………………………………………….…..122
IX. FINANCES…………………………………………………………………………………………..123
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1. Background

Inkaba yeAfrica & !khure Africa are two ‘Big Science’ projects focused on Earth Systems S&T with an
overarching goal to align responsible Earth Stewardship with sustainable socio-economic development and
capacity building (www.inkaba.org).

The Inkaba yeAfrica program started in 2004 and the !khure Africa Program in 2009. These two programs were
specifically linked to bilateral collaborative research and capacity-building with Germany and France,
respectively.

Inkaba ye Africa Phase I (2004-2007) was completed at a total cost of 24M Euros (largely from German
investment: total Germany to South Africa ratio was circa 50:1). RSA investment in 2004 was R0.8M; by 2007
this had increased to R1.5M. In 2007, 22 RSA students participated (10 honours, 9 MSc, 3 PhD).

Phase I was celebrated with a special volume of the South African Journal of Geology, comprising 24 papers
written by a total of 66 authors; including 16 RSA students (see annual report 2008 for details). By the end of
Phase II (2008-2010) a second special volume of the same journal was published (in 2011), comprising 28
papers, with 24 RSA students participating (see annual report 2011). Sadly this also marked the end of direct
German and French funding.

By 2013, the bilateral relationships had become less formal and the distinction between the two programs in
South Africa had become blurred. Simultaneously, total combined funding for both projects decreased
significantly after 2011 (by 2012 it had shrunk by 36% from 2011; by 2014 it was down by 44% from 2011). By
2014 it made sense to combine the funding and research of the two projects. At this stage, the total decade
expenditure by South Africa on the projects was about R52 million (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Total South African funding allocation for Inkaba yeAfrica (IyA) and !Khure Africa (!KA) over the last
decade. Note: that !KA started 6 years after IyA. From 2104 on the two programs are funded as one.

From a small beginning then, in 2004, with 10 students, by 2013, the Inkaba yeAfrica program catered for a up
to 161 students in some 21 projects, and the !khure Africa program for another 20 in about 10 projects. Due to
the continuous decrease in funding it was decided in 2013 to cap the number of Inkaba yeAfrica and !khure
Africa students to around 100. By the end 2014, the total number of students was 108. In total, 199 students
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have graduated from the programs and 14 more will graduate by the first quarter of 2015 (e.g. completed and
submitted their thesis for examination by end 2014).

Figure 2. Total number of students enrolled and graduated (IyA and !KA combined). Whilst investment is now
almost solely by South Africa, through the Global Change Program of DST (R10.7M in 2010; 6M in 2014), student
participation increased rapidly to a peak of 181 in 2013. On average, the cost of running this program over a
decade has been about R24,000 per student.
Publications: 2013-2014: 45 in peer reviewed journals; Publication number today IyA/!KA = 122

Inkaba ye Africa Phase III (2011-2014) and !Khure Africa Phase II are completed with this report.

2. Phase III - Inkaba yeAfrica & !khure Africa ‘Incorporated’

The goal of a new phase of funding and research was to merge the programs and link them more clearly to the
national DST Grand Challenges Global Change Program (GCGCP). From 2014/2015 to 2016/2017, Inkaba
yeAfrica & !khure Africa was/is to be funded as one program, directly linked to GCGCP and managed by AEON-
ESSRI.

This is the first report, therefore, in which the programs are reported on together rather than in two separate
reports as in the past. In places, however, the report does identify links to both programs since there are still
students in the systems that were aligned with either one of the programs before the transition.

3. IyA !KA Capacity building and Students - 2013/2014
Capacity building is a central aim of the program, and Figures 3-7 summarises the achievements.
Details are given in Appendix I.
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Last year saw a 40% decrease in the total number of students. In 2013, the total number of students
reached a final number of 181 (up from 163 in 2012); by 2014 the number was down to 108 (Figure 3),
reflecting a conscious decision to decrease the number of students in line with the decrease in funding
(e.g. Figures 1 and 2)
Decrease in Student Participation 2013 to 2014
200
181
180
163
160
140
122
120 108
101 102
100
84
80 67
56
60 48
41 39 37 42 44 43 43
40
20 11 11 9
0
July 2013 Dec 2013 Jan 2014 July 2014 Dec 2014
Total PhD MSc HONS

Figure 3. Changes in the total number of students; and the total number of specific degree candidates, from
2013 to 2014
The largest student participation continuous to be at MSc level (but down by 56%, from just over 100
in 2013 to 56 at the end of 2014; see Figure 3). Prior to 2010, the largest intake of students was at
Honours level, but since then the MSc group has dominated and continuous to do so. However, the
number of PhD students has increased steadily.
From a total of PhD and MSc students in 2013 (about 30% were PhD candidates), the ratio of MSc
students to PhD students in 2014 increased by nearly 200% (0.41 to 0.79).
The number of Hons students in 2013, as in 2011/2012, nearly balanced the number of PhD students,
but by 2014 the number of Hons students decreased substantially (down to 9 from 42 at the end of
2013) a decrease of nearly 80%. The ratio of Hons:MSc:PhD stands at 1:6:5.
There is a serious lesson here: the low number of honours students may not bode well for potential
increases in the number of future PhDs.
Nevertheless, by 2014, the total number of PhD candidates that graduated had increased more than 4-
fold since 2011. The number of MSc students increased by 3 to 4 times since 2011, and now remains
steady between 20-30 per year. The number of Honours students that graduated in 2014 is about the
same as in 2011 (15), but has decreased since a maximum of 32 in 2013 (Figure 4)
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Graduated Students
40 37
35
30 27 27
25
25
20
20
15
14
15
9
10 7 8 8
5 2
0
2014 2013 2012 2011
PhD MSc Hons

Figure 4. Changes in the specific degree candidates from 2011 to 2014

In terms of gender, figure 5 shows that the total number of female students has increased slightly by
2% (43% in 2014, up from a 40% total in 2011).

Gender

140
123

120 110

100 93
81
80 76 73
60 58 55

40

20

0
2014 2013 2012 2011

Male Female

Figure 5. Gender break down: the ratio of ratios of gender [F/M] has remained nearly the same (ca. 1: 1.5).

In 2014 and 2013, 64% of the students were black, up from 60% in 2011 and 2012. Whilst the total
number of black females has decreased notably between 2013 and 2014, the overall gender ratios
have remained much the same. About 40% of all black students are females; whilst about 50% of all
white students are females (see also figure 7).

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Race

160
140
140

120 110

100 85
81
80 76 73
55
60 49

40

20

0
2014 2013 2012 2011

Black White

Figure 6. The ratio of race (W/B) has shifted markedly from has shifted from 1: 1.5 (in 2011) to near 1:2 (in
2013), but down again to 1: 1.7 in 2014.

Yearly, Gender and Race
250
216
200 183
150 134 136 140
110
100 85 81 82
76 73
67
53 50 58 49 55
43 41 43
50 32 31 23 31 26352430
0
Total Black Total Black Male Black Female White Total White Male White Female
2014 2013 2012 2011

Figure 7. Total breakdown of student statistics 2011-2013. For further details see Appendix I

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4. Student and Post Doc projects- Randomly Selected Examples
More than 100 projects are ongoing in the program. These are all summarized in Appendixes II- VIII,
and can be explored further on www.inkaba.org. In this section, we present 12 typical Inkaba yeAfrica
and 4 !Khure Africa student projects, with 2 post-doc researcher, selected at random, and summarized
by the students themselves:
1. Abiel Kidane, MSc student: Fingerprinting of diamonds using Ion Beam and Magnetometer.
2. Moipone Mokoena, MSc student: Isotopic geochemistry of the hydrocarbon gases associated with formation
waters of the Karoo Basin, Eastern Cape Province: Baseline studies.

3. Taufeeq Dhansay, PhD student: Fracture Systems in southern Africa: Efforts to construct dynamic fracture
propagation model.

4. Chazanne Long, MSc student: Study of water contamination related to anthropogenic activities in the greater
Witwatersrand area in order to quantify cost of environmental degradation and associated health risks.

5. Dakalo Makhokha, MSc student: A systematic approach to the interpretation of conductivity anomalies across
intrusive dolerite dykes and sills in the Karoo Supergroup.

6. Divan Stroebel, MSc student: A Baseline Study towards Sustainable Governance of Scarce Groundwater
Resources in the Face of Fracking in the Eastern Cape Karoo.

7. Thomas Tshifhiwa Muedi, PhD Student: Effort to better understand fluid escape along fractures and igneous
intrusions in southern Africa.

8. Christinah Makoae and Lebohang Molaba, MSc students: Investigation of potential groundwater-bearing
structures in the Mangaung area for supplementation to the potable water supply.

9. Derick Forbanka, PhD student: Identifying Cryptic Species of Fork-Marked Dwarf Lemurs.

10. Naledi Chere, MSc student: Efforts to evaluate the shale gas resources of the Karoo based on bore-hole
geochemistry and geology

11. Vincent Hare, PhD student: Efforts to construct an archaeo-magnetic intensity curve for southern Africa and a
reference curve for dating pre-colonial southern African ceramics

12. Claire Geel, MSc student: Shale gas characteristics of Permian black shales in the Ecca Group, near Jansenville,
Eastern Cape, South Africa.

13. Teboho Shakhane, MSc student: Integrated system approach to evaluate natural processes and hydrodynamics
linked to groundwater-surface water interaction

14. N’wa-Jama Mashel, MSc student: Crop yields from organic and conventional farming systems in South Africa'
Southern Cape
15. Andrea Baker, PhD student: Geochemical records of palaeoenvironmental controls on peat forming processes in
Mfabeni peatland

16. Bastien Linol, Post Doc: Efforts to establish origin of major African Basins and the evolution of Africa’s
Topography

17. Vera Wegener, Post Doc, and Lucian Bezuidenhout, PhD student: Passive Seismic Survey at Thyspunt

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Fingerprinting of diamonds using Ion Beam and Magnetometer
Abiel Kidane, Msc student, AEON, NMMU March 2015
Developing a virtual SIMS Collaboration between Fingerprint of Diamonds
SA and Germany Diamond chemistry is a powerful tool for
defining the source of a given stone. Fe-bearing
The Helmholtz Centre Potsdam for Geosciences (GFZ) in
sulphides are a common mineral inclusion in
Germany acquired a state-of-the-art Secondary Ion Mass
diamond and these often retain a remnant
Spectrometer (SIMS 1280-HR) in 2013. This technology is
magnetization. This remnant magnetization
unique in its ability to provide high precision isotopic
gives unique insights into the genesis of a
analysis with high mass resolving power. The 1280 HR is
diamond as well as its paleomagnetic history. Photo 2: some of
equipped with as a multi-collection system with a
The ultimate goal of this project is therefore to the diamond
capability of recording multiple ion species concurrently,
combine both the chemistry and magnetism of samples under
meaning a faster rate of analysis and much improved
diamonds to constrain their sources. Our investigation
analytical uncertainty. While this equipment will be in
samples include diamonds from Helam (Swartruggen), Premier,
Potsdam, the Germany-South Africa initiative is to position
Klipspringer and Kimberley in South Africa and River Ranch from
a virtual node at AEON, NMMU, Port Elizabeth, South
Zimbabwe.
Africa. This virtual laboratory will be the first of its kind
world-wide, providing a long-term and sustainable We are using the Fourier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy
collaboration centred around such high-end laboratory (FTIR) to identify the structurally bonded chemical impurities and
equipment via an internet protocol currently being SIMS 1280-HR to quantify the carbon isotopic ratios of these
developed. diamond samples. These two analyses are been carried out at
GFZ. Potsdam.
As part of this RSA-Germany initiative, I am currently
receiving training at the GFZ SIMS facility since May We are characterizing the magnetic property of mineral inclusion
2013. The training includes in-depth experience in in diamond by recording hysteresis signature using a Vibrating
instrument operation, project planning, sample Sample Magnetometer (VSM). We are
preparation, strategies for optimization of data acquisition, also constraining the paleomagnetic
data interpretation and ultimately the publication of the history of the diamond by measuring
results in the international Scientific literature. The training induced remnant magnetism (IRM). These
is overseen by Dr. Michael Wiedenbeck, the head of the analyses are non-destructive, rapid and
SIMS facility at GFZ, Potsdam. perform at low temperature. This
experiment is carried out under the
Photo 1: The supervision of Prof. Stuart Gilder, at the
SIMS group Department of Geophysics, Ludwig
at GFZ, (Dr Maximilians Universität München (LMU),
Wiedenbeck Photo 3: The VSM- Germany.
in the middle magnetometer at LMU
and myself, in

the far right)
EGU-abstract : Carbon isotope ratios and impurities in diamonds from Southern Africa
Abiel Kidane (1,2), Monika Koch-Müller (1), Luiz Morales (1), Michael Wiedenbeck (1), and Maarten De Wit (2)
(1) Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam, Duetsches GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany., (2) AEON, Nelson Mandela,
Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa; [email protected]
We are investigating the sources of diamonds from southern Africa by studying both their carbon isotopic composition and
chemical impurities. Our samples include macro-sized diamonds from River Ranch kimberlite in Zimbabwe and the Helam and
Klipspringer kimberlitic deposits from South Africa, as well as micro-sized diamonds from Klipspringer and Premier kimberlites in
South Africa. We have characterized the samples for their structurally bounded nitrogen, hydrogen and platelets defect using a
Fourier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Using the DiaMap routine, open source software (Howell et al., 2012), IR
spectra were deconvulated and quantified for their nitrogen (A, B and D components) and hydrogen contents. High to moderate
nitrogen concentrations (1810 to 400 μg/g; 400 to 50 μg/g respectively) were found in diamonds from Klipspringer and Helam.
Moderate to low (<50 μg/g) nitrogen concentrations were observed in diamonds from Premier and River Ranch. Type II
diamonds, i.e. diamonds with no N impurities, which are presumed to have been derived from ultramafic sources, are found in
the River Ranch deposit. The macro- and micro-size diamonds from the Klipspringer deposit display similar nitrogen defects,
with higher nitrogen concentration and more frequent D components found in the macro-size diamonds.
One of the first steps towards reliable carbon isotope studies is the development of calibration materials for SIMS carbon
isotopic analyses. We have investigated candidate materials both from a polycrystalline synthetic diamond sheet and two
natural gem quality diamonds from Juina (Brazil). Electron-based images of the synthetic diamond sheet, obtained using GFZ
Potsdam’s dual beam FIB instrument, show many diamond grains with diameters greater than 35 m. SIMS testing of the isotopic
homogeneity of the back and front sides of the synthetic sheets reveal similar 13C/12C ratio within a RSD of <1 ‰ . SIMS isotopic
analyses of the two natural diamond Rms yield a constant 13C/12C ratio with RSD of better than 0.5 ‰. Using the natural
diamond as calibratrant, a preliminary result on a selected diamond from the four kimberlitic sample suites yields a δ13C in range
between -3 to -7 ‰.
Howell, D., O’Neill, C. J., Grant, K. J., Griffin, W. L., Pearson, N. J., & O’Reilly, S. Y. (2012). μ-FTIR mapping: Distribution of
impurities in different types of diamond growth. Diamond and Related Materials, 29, 29–36. doi:10.1016/j.diamond.2012.06.003.
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