It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, February 06, 2022
ICYMI
Photos of Spilled Catch Shock European Fisheries Regulators
The environmental group Sea Shepherd has obtained aerial footage of a large-scale release of dead fish off the coast of France, drawing scrutiny from the public and from regulators.
The Sea Shepherd patrol vessel Age of Union is operating in the Bay of Biscay off La Rochelle, monitoring four factory trawlers to collect evidence of dolphin bycatch. On her most recent patrol, the vessel observed a release of thousands of blue whiting into the ocean. This catch came from the Margiris, the second largest trawler in the world.
Sea Shepherd asserted that the fish were illegally dumped over the side, but the Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association (PFA) - which represents Margulis' operator - told media that the release was an accidental "fishing incident" involving a ruptured net.
"We would like to clarify that around 0550 on 3 February 2022, an amount of blue whiting was involuntarily released into the sea from the Margiris vessel, due to a rupture in the cod-end part of its net. Such an accident is a rare occurrence and in this case was caused by the unexpectedly large size of the fish caught," said the PFA in a statement to media.
Regulators from France and the EU are asking for more information.
"At the sight of the images shared by [Sea Shepherd France], I asked the National Fisheries Monitoring Center to shed light on this subject in order to identify the cause of these discards of fish. Of course, these images are shocking," said French Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin. "France supports sustainable fishing and this isn't reflected here. Should an infraction have occurred, sanctions would be taken against the responsible shipowner that will be identified."
Virginijus Sinkevi?ius, EU commissioner for the environment, oceans and fisheries, said in a statement that his office is collecting "exhaustive information and evidence" about the release.
On February 6, Margiris departed the fishing grounds and headed towards Falmouth, England, outside of the European Union. There she rendezvoused with another trawler operated by the same firm, the Alina, then departed again, according to Sea Shepherd.
Dutch Detain Captain and Mate for Abandoning Drifting Bulker
In a strange twist to yesterday’s dramatic sea rescue of the crew from a drifting bulker during a raging storm, Dutch authorities are now detaining the captain and chief mate from the Julietta D. The vessel was secured by a salvage crew from Boskalis and brought to port, but the investigation is questioning the actions of the captain for leaving the vessel.
The Coastguard of the Netherlands reports that it responded to a call received from the 37,200 dwt bulker requesting assistance and a spokesperson told the Dutch news outlet NOS that the Coastguard in those situations does not question the captain’s judgment that there is an emergency. The Maltese-flagged bulker reported that its anchor chain had parted causing the vessel to hit an anchored chemical tanker creating a small hole in the hull. They were told that the ship was drifting out of control in the storm where winds were gusting up to 75 mph and the seas were running 16 to 20 feet.
Two Dutch helicopters along with lifeboats of the Royal Dutch Rescue Society (KNRM) were dispatched into the storm during. They also requested assistance from the Belgian Coast Guard, and they were able to locate the bulker between 15 and 20 miles off the coast. An airlift took place removing the 18 crew members including the captain and chief mate from the vessel.
Dutch media reports that last night the police detained the captain and chief mate as part of an investigation. They are reporting that the authorities are saying that the captain and mate should have remained aboard the vessel for as long as possible and only left if there was imminent danger. They are being investigated for prematurely abandoning the vessel that could then have gone aground on the Dutch coast.
The investigation will also look at the damage caused by the bulker when it hit the foundation for a transformer in the under construction Hollande Kust Zud wind farm. Tennet that is building the platforms for the Vattenfall project reports that there was no one on the transformer that was hit. Once the storm subsides, they are planning to inspect the site to see if there was any damage due to the impact.
The Julietta D remained afloat and adrift causing an offshore oil platform also to be abandoned before a joint salvage operation between Boskalis and Multraship got underway that same afternoon. The Sovereign, a large Boskalis tug, arrived on the scene about four hours after the ship was abandoned. Four salvors from Boskalis’ salvage division, SMIT Salvage, were airlifted onto the Julietta D by helicopter and were able to secure a towline to prevent the vessel from going aground. The Julietta D was pulled further out to sea as a precaution.
A second tug, the seagoing Multratug 18 operated by Multraship also arrived and secured a line, but due to the extreme wave height, the connection did not hold. Dutch media are saying the Coastguard reported that one person on the tug and a second on one of the KNRM’s lifeboats both received minor injuries during the attempt to secure the second line. The Multratug 18 remained on stand-by overnight to assist. A second large Boskalis tug, the Manta, loaded with salvage equipment and additional personnel, was also sent to the bulker and at sunrise today the Multratug 18 was able to attach a stern line to provide course guidance during the tow. The tugs were then able to bring the Julietta D to Rotterdam as the wind reduced and the waves were lower.
The tanker Pechora Star that was hit by the Julietta D remained at anchor and moored in the port of Amsterdam on Tuesday morning under its own power.
The German shipping company that owns the Julietta D thanked everyone involved for their efforts and promised to cooperate fully with the investigation.
Multraship tug connected to the Julietta D providing course guidance during the tow (Multraship/Flying Focus photo)
One of Maersk’s Largest Boxships Grounds off Germany
One of the largest containerships in Maersk’s fleet went aground last night, February 2, as it was approaching the German port of Bremerhaven. There are no signs of a hull breach or pollution, but a first attempt to refloat the ultra-large boxship was unsuccessful and additional resources are being assembled while the vessel's ballast tanks were also emptied before a second attempt to pull the vessel back into the shipping channel near the mouth of the Weser.
Maersk confirmed reports from Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (Havariekommando) advising customers that the 210,000 dwt Mumbai Maersk was inbound to Germany with containers shipped in Asia heading for Germany and the Scandinavian countries. With a capacity of approximately 20,000 TEU, the Mumbai Maersk is part of the line’s Triple E class introduced in 2018 and one of the largest vessels in the fleet. The vessel had previously unloaded at Rotterdam before proceeding to Germany, so it is unclear how many containers are currently aboard.
The German authorities reported at just after 11 p.m. local time approaching the mouth of Weser the vessel ran aground on a shallow patch. The 1,309 foot Mumbai Maersk reported no injuries in the grounding but remained stuck. The vessel has a normal average draft of approximately 46.5 feet, but pictures released by CCME show it to be higher in the water. Reports in the local media suggest that vessel currently has a draft under 43 feet and that it may have experienced a problem with its rudder while in the fairway approaching the port. The media is reporting that the vessel made a loop taking her south of the fairway into an area used for dredged material from the shipping lane.
A total of seven vessels were sent to provide assistance, including a towing assistance team, which CCME says typically consists of four people trained to manage situations such as this grounding. A first attempt by the tugs overnight to free the containership was unsuccessful.
Mumbai Maersk remains on a shallow patch off Bremerhaven, Germany (Havariekommando)
The Mumbai Maersk’s current position is reported not to be obstructing the entrance to the Weser as the route to Bremerhaven. Port traffic is reported to be operating normally.
CCME said that Maersk retained a salvage company and that they were working with the shipping line planning additional efforts to refloat the containership. The authorities ordered a sounding of the site to get up-to-date information on the water depths in the area. The current plan calls for additional tugs to be added to the effort and a new attempt to refloat the vessel on the coming high tide around midnight on February 3. CCME reports a higher than normal tide is expected tonight with the next higher than normal tide expected Saturday night.
Maersk is advising customers with outbound cargos to be loaded in Bremerhaven that it will determine actions if the next refloating attempt does not prove to be successful. “We will look into alternative means of transport to move this cargo to its intended destinations,” Maersk wrote in its customer advisory.
The Mumbai Maersk was introduced in 2018 and claimed a new record for Maersk, loading what at the time they said was the largest number of containers. In August 2018, the containership departed Asia with a capacity load of 19,038 TEU bound for Europe.
Facing Scrutiny on CO2, Rotterdam Starts Tracking Vessel Emissions
Responding to scrutiny from an environmental watchdog over its carbon emissions, Europe’s largest and busiest port says that it intends to make its impact more transparent.
On the day that NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) revealed that the port of Rotterdam was associated with almost 14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, making it the most carbon-emitting port in Europe, the Port of Rotterdam Authority said it has partnered with the consultancy BigMile to develop a digital platform to identify and track transport-related emissions within its waters.
Over the next six months, the authority and BigMile will undertake a pilot project to calculate seagoing and inland vessel movements within the port with the aim of better understanding its emissions levels.
The port intends to use AIS data to precisely calculate transport sector emissions. The emission platform will help the port and business community make better choices and implement strategies to make the facility a carbon-neutral port. Findings from the project will be shared with shipping companies and terminals in the second half of the year.
“With millions of transport movements, we are the largest port in Europe. This means that our activities can have a huge impact on making logistics more sustainable,” said Nico van Dooren, who is responsible for the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s energy transition program.
He added the port is working on a series of related projects to make the industry and logistics more sustainable, from determining optimal connections via the most sustainable modality to the production of alternative fuels and promoting fast and efficient port call handling.
As Europe’s largest and busiest port, Rotterdam has been handling an average of 14.5 million TEU throughput annually. It is an absolute leader in crude oil handling and storage in Northwest Europe, moving 100 million tonnes of oil every year, almost entirely for refineries within the port and the nearby region.
A new study by T&E shows that transport emissions at Rotterdam are also somewhat significant at 13.7 million metric tonnes - nearly twice its largest competitor, Antwerp.
With the digital platform, Rotterdam said it is taking a step towards using sound data to manage its emissions reduction strategy. BigMile has developed a calculation and analysis platform to help shippers and logistics service providers optimize and report on the multi-modal transport-related carbon emissions of their transport. Its platform, which already has over 200 users, helps logistics firms comply with carbon reporting requirements and regulations.
“In the first project phase, we are focusing on area emissions in the port of Rotterdam area, from 60 kilometres offshore to the Brienenoordbrug. We are literally ‘charting’ sea-going and inland shipping’s actual emissions based on vessel and vehicle movements,” explained Wouter Nering Bögel, BigMile project manager.
ICS Finds Drop-Off in Flag States' Labor Standards Reporting
The International Chamber of Shipping has issued its annual report card on flag state performance, and while the signs are positive in general, there is one category where some states are underperforming: their labor standards reporting. ICS' analysis of flag states’ reporting on ILO labor standards, including the Maritime Labor Convention, showed a six percentage point drop in flag states meeting their obligations.
“The pandemic has been a challenge for us all and one that Flag States have also had to weather. However, the drop off in reporting against ILO Labour Standards, including the MLC, is further evidence that seafarer wellbeing has been an unintended casualty of the pandemic," said ICS Secretary General Guy Platten. “Hundreds of thousands of seafarers have been trapped on ships for many months beyond their scheduled tours of duty throughout the last two years. This report is a reminder that flag states must keep seafarer wellbeing as a top priority.”
The dropoff reflects a trend of reporting challenges for governments generally, not just flag state administrations. Out of the 2,004 reports on labor standards requested by the International Labor Organization from governments in 2021, only 43 percent of these requests were granted. This is a sharp drop compared with the 71 percent reporting rate in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. "This has been a challenging year for many governments resulting in a limited capacity to report," the ILO noted.
According to ICS, this shows both the unusual administrative pressures of the pandemic and the impact of the crew change crisis on seafarers, governments and the industry.
However, according to ICS, this one shortcoming was an outlier, and most flags showed a generally strong performance on port state control inspections and ratification of international conventions. This includes positive developments at the biggest flags.
"Amongst the 10 largest ships registers (by dead weight tonnage), covering more than 75 percent of the world fleet, none have more than two indicators of potentially negative performance, and five have no negative indicators at all," ICS reported. "The findings also suggest that distinctions between ‘traditional’ flags and open registers are no longer meaningful, with many open registers amongst the very top performers."
ASYMMETRICAL CYBER WARFARE
Cyberattack Disrupting Northern European Oil Hubs in Major Ports
Port facilities across northern Europe are all reporting what appears to be a spreading cyberattack targeting the region’s oil operations. After initial reports of disruptions in Germany, reports are now also coming in from the Netherlands and Belgium saying that it is impacting the loading and unloading of barges at a time when the oil market is already strained by winter weather. Local prosecutors in the three countries are investigating while reports indicate the European Union’s policy agency has also offered to support the investigation.
The first instances of what appears to be a sophisticated cyberattack were reported in Germany late last week. Oiltranking Group and Mabanaft discovered they had been a victim of a cyber incident on January 29. The companies reporting taking actions to address the situation and strength their network while investigation the extent of the intrusion. A separate company Oiltanking Deutschland that runs terminals in Germany reported that it was operating on a limited capacity and Mabanaft Deutschland which runs inland terminals also reported that its operations were being impacted. Both Oiltanking Deutschland and Mabanaft Deutschland declares force majeure reporting that they were having problems honoring delivery contracts.
German judicial authorities confirmed that they had launched an investigation into suspected extortion of oil operators. The German newspaper Handelsblatt first reported that the German security services believe the attack began with BlackCat ransomware. The software first appeared late last year and drew attention because of its sophisticated approach and incorporating several so-called innovations versus other ransomware.
After the reports of problems in Hamburg, additional terminals began also reporting outages. Belgian authorities are also investigating after ports in Ghent and Antwerp-Zeebrugge were impacted. Similarly, the authorities in the Netherlands became involved. SEA-Tank, Oiltanking, and Evos in Amsterdam, Ghent and Antwerp are all reporting issues related to their operating systems.
The head of Germany’s IT security agency in a press briefing called the incident serious but said it was not grave believing that it has been contained. The authorities are investigating if it was a coordinated attack on multiple locations or if it spread through the cross-border operations along the Dutch-Belgian oil trading hub.
The unloading of oil barges has become an issue while elsewhere companies have worked to reroute shipments. This week, Shell said it was taking steps to reroute to different supply depots because of the attacks.
The current attack is reminiscent of the May 2021 ransomware incident on the U.S.’s Colonial Pipeline. The pipeline, which is one of the largest and most critical in the U.S. as it feeds much of the East Coast, was disrupted for days.
German Fuel Hack Stretches to Sixth Day
With Distribution Curbed
Rachel Graham and Jack Wittels, Bloomberg News Feb 4, 2022
BC-German-Fuel-Hack-Stretches-to-Sixth-Day-With-Distribution-Curbed , Rachel Graham and Jack Wittels
(Bloomberg) -- A cyberattack targeting fuel storages in Germany and parts of northern Europe stretched into a sixth day with little visibility over when things will get back to normal.
Mabanaft Germany, whose systems were breached, continued to work on resolving the issue on Friday, according to a letter from the company seen by Bloomberg.
The hack left swaths of German fuel depots unable to load onto trucks. Operations at different companies’ terminals have also been disrupted in Belgium that handle a range of fuels, including gas. At least one terminal in Antwerp run by a company that suffered an IT outage is at least partly operating, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
German authorities said earlier this week the incident was serious “but not grave.” People involved in fuel distribution in Germany said the fuel-supply situation since the hacking has so far been stable. One said there were plenty of alternative routes to market, while others said that high prices and subdued demand have helped to take any pressure off the country’s supply of heating oil.
The hackers behind the German breach appear to be related to the Russian DarkSide ransomware gang, according to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. DarkSide was accused of the attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. last year, shutting down the largest gasoline pipeline in the U.S. for several days in May.
The hacking has coincided with one of the tightest diesel markets that Europe has seen in years. So-called timespreads for the fuel have surged to the highest since 2008, indicating demand is outpacing supply. The distributors in Germany said that has resulted in slow demand.
Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH, a Mabanaft-linked storage firm whose IT system was also compromised, had about 18 million tons of fuel pass through its depots in 2020. That equates to about 15-20% of the nation’s oil demand, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In Germany, a force majeure is in place across distribution and storage assets owned by Mabanaft Group, within which the Oiltanking Deutschland operates. Both firms are owned by Marquard & Bahls.
The disruption left companies like Shell Plc unable to load fuels onto trucks at Oiltanking Deutschland facilities and looking for alternative options. Some barge operators can’t get fuel out of storage onto vessels operating along the Rhine River, a major conduit for supplies from northwest Europe to buyers as far away as Switzerland. Payments were hindered at some German filling stations.
A cyber attack on a German oil storage and logistics firm has impacted Shell’s oil supply chain in Germany, where it is rerouting supplies to alternative depots, the supermajor said on Tuesday.
Shell was able to “reroute to alternative supply depots for the time being,” a spokesperson for Shell’s German unit, Shell Deutschland GmbH, said in a statement on Tuesday as carried by Reuters.
A few days ago, oil supply and logistics firms Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH and oil trading firm Mabanaft, both of which are subsidiaries of Hamburg-based group Marquard & Bahls, were victims of a cyberattack that affected their IT systems.
The companies discovered on Saturday the cyber incident and launched an investigation into it with the help of external specialists, Oiltanking Deutschland and Mabanaft said in an emailed statement cited by The Associated Press.
Oiltanking GmbH Group continues to operate all terminals in all global markets, but the German operations of Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH were “operating with limited capacity.”
The companies are working to restore operations to normal as soon as feasible, but in the meantime, the oil logistics and supply chain in Germany has been affected, including oil logistics at the local operations of supermajor Shell.
All systems of loading and unloading tanks operated by Oiltanking Deutschland in Germany are being paralyzed, German business daily Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday.
Oiltanking Deutschland is one of the largest independent providers of tank space for oils, chemicals, and gases worldwide, according to Handelsblatt. Oiltanking Deutschland has 11 tank farm locations in Germany.
The German unit of Mabanaft “has also declared force majeure for the majority of its inland supply activities in Germany,” the statement from the firm cited by AP said. Mabanaft is an importer, wholesaler, and supplier of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heating oil, and other petroleum products.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Opinion: Now is the Time to Take Port Cyber Security Seriously
If you think COVID-related supply chain issues at ports are bad, wait until a malicious actor wants to inflict similar chaos on purpose.
Locomotives, airplanes, container ships and bulk freighters, long-haul and short-haul trucks, anything that rolls, flies, or floats. No matter the vehicle, and no matter how it’s powered, chances are a port plays a critical role in beginning or ending its journey. From paying more at the gas pump to finding things from baby formula to cat food, we have witnessed firsthand what happens when the push and pull of supply and demand starts to break down. Ports are dedicated to ensuring that supply meets demand both in terms of finished goods and the raw materials for making them. When they break down, the ripples spread across the entire economy.
At this moment, on the periphery of the crisis unfolding in Ukraine, major bulk fuel suppliers in the ports of Antwerp and Hamburg are experiencing work stoppages because of cyber attacks. Regardless of the motive or responsible party, what occurred this week is an explicit example of how bad actors use attacks such as these to take advantage of a dire situation. While this attack may not have been on our shores, it can directly impact the United States’ and its allies’ ability to operate in the region, as well as apply needless stress on an already taxed economy.
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) highlighted in Congressional testimony the role cyber security plays in securing our ports. AAPA’s President Chris Connor recently emphasized that the dual threats of ransomware and COVID-induced supply and staffing stresses have “revealed what is already a problem…ship and port systems are connected to each other or the internet. A critical attack on any of these systems could have devastating economic consequences or even lead to the loss of life.”
This is not an exaggeration. The efficiency of current global economic systems is due in large part to interconnectedness and advanced analytics, both of which are powered by cyber infrastructure that is now thoroughly enmeshed with traditional port infrastructure. Connor further noted that “the maritime transportation system needs resources to harden their IT systems to prevent attacks and to respond appropriately when an attack does occur.”
The bad news is we have a problem, but the good news is we generally know what we need to address this: more resilient networks combined with better cyber detection and response capabilities.
The exact scope and scale of implementing this solution will differ from port to port, but through financial programs such as the Department of Homeland Security’s Port Security Grant Program and resources from the Office of Maritime Security at the Department of Transportation, the work can and must begin now.
Ports have played a crucial role in America’s growth and role in the world since its founding, but a time has come when these engines of economic and social power might become vulnerable in a crisis. Not all critical infrastructure is equally critical, and ports have the potential to be just as devastating when compromised or degraded as they are constructive when they are operating at their full potential. Malicious cyber actors are noticing that the toxic mix of ransomware, epidemics, and geopolitical instability in places like Ukraine, the South China Sea, or the Persian Gulf can make even simple attacks extremely effective.
It will not matter if our power grid is resilient if it can’t get the coal and natural gas to feed it. It will not matter how secure our smart devices are if they are sitting in shipping containers. It will not matter how cheap gas is if the pipelines that carry it are not functioning. And finally, it will not matter how much money is earmarked for addressing cyber security at ports if it is not spent wisely, and more importantly, before a crisis arrives, and judging by events in Europe, it may already be upon us.
Jason P. Atwell is the Principal Advisor of Global Intelligence at Mandiant, Inc. the global leader in dynamic cyber defense?and response.
Ontario man finds an ice formation that looks like the Grim Reaper outside his home
With all the extreme weather alerts we've had, natural ice sculptures have started to form all over Ontario. From ice formations formed over rocks that look like jellyfish to trees covered in ice at a national park, there are a ton of these natural creations to see.
For one man in Ontario, he woke up to a bit of a terrifying surprise as he found an ice formation that looks like the Grim Reaper outside of his home.
On Feb. 28, 2020, Ben Tucci took a trip up to his cottage in Dunnville to check it out before demolition started and noticed something while walking towards the lakeside of the property.
As he grew closer, he was in awe, not believing what he was seeing. Massive ice sculptures had formed on his neighbour's lamp posts, creating figures that resembled the Grim Reaper and a woman.
"My immediate reaction of the dejected-looking figure was of an eerie looking woman or a sea hag of sorts, leaving the property almost as if to be walking away from Jack Frost," says Tucci about the figure.
Ben Tucci posted these eerie photos after a winter storm.
When he took a look at it a second time, the ice formation looked like Jack Frost, appearing to hold a cellphone.
Tucci posted the photos onto his social media with thousands of liking and commenting on the photo and sharing it to ghost social media sites.
The photos have caused quite a stir on social media, with a ton of people writing how terrified they would be if they saw the figure in person.
"I'm just saying that if I lived near there, I wouldn't be sleeping for the rest of the winter."
"These look like my imagining of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come," wrote another person.
There's a reasonable explanation to how these ghostly figures came about Ben says. With the frigid temperature, the winds blew the waves from Lake Erie over the floodwalls that hit the lamp posts to create them.
I don't know about you, but if I were to see these in person, I'd run as far and as fast as I can from these formations. These photos will be giving me nightmares for the next few days.
Meteorite Fragment Reveals an Extreme Asteroid Impact Hidden in Mars' Ancient Past
Mars meteorite NWA 7034, AKA 'Black Beauty'. (Institute of Meteoritics, UNM) SPACE
Evidence for an intense asteroid impact on Mars has been found in a Martian meteorite, which could alter the timeline for when the red planet might have been habitable.
In a famous meteorite named NWA 7034, or 'Black Beauty', scientists discovered a shocked crystal of the mineral zircon, showing a feature only seen on Earth in massive impact craters. This suggests that Mars was under heavy bombardment from meteorites later than thought.
"High-pressure shock deformation has not previously been found in any minerals from Black Beauty. This discovery of shock damage in a 4.45 billion-year-old Martian zircon provides new evidence of dynamic processes that affected the surface of early Mars."
NWA 7034, discovered in 2011 in the Sahara Desert of Morocco, is a 320-gram (11.3-ounce) chunk of volcanic breccia. That is, it's composed of pieces of different types of rock, a bit like a fruit cake.
It's mostly basalt, but it's scattered through with inclusions, including a number of crystals of zircon, and parts of it are up to 4.45 billion years old, nearly as old as the planet itself.
The early Solar System was a much wilder place than it is today. We've found evidence that, early on, the inner planets were absolutely pummeled by large asteroid impacts.
The overall absence of shock damage in the zircons from NWA 7034 was previously given as evidence that this intense period of bombardment on Mars had declined by about 4.48 billion years ago. Consequently, this could have meant that Mars was habitable quite early on.
Cox and her colleagues followed up by performing a close study of 66 grains of zircon found in NWA 7034, performing electron backscatter diffraction mapping and cathodoluminescence imaging to probe the structural arrangement of the atomic lattice within.
In just one of the 66 grains, one that was 4.45 billion years old, the team identified evidence of a massive impact.
"The type of shock damage in the Martian zircon involves 'twinning', and has been reported from all of the biggest impact sites on Earth, including the one in Mexico that killed off the dinosaurs, as well as the Moon, but not previously from Mars," Cox said.
In all minerals, atoms are arranged in a symmetrical three-dimensional lattice structure. Think of, for example, a lattice cube, where an atom sits at each corner of every cube in the lattice (although the actual structure varies significantly from mineral to mineral).
When high enough pressure is applied – 20 to 30 gigapascals, such as we see in the biggest asteroid impacts – something strange can happen to these lattices. Crystals can be pushed together so tightly that they end up sharing some of the points on their crystal lattices.
Although the team only found twinning in one of their zircon crystals, that one crystal suggests a formation process similar to what we have seen here on Earth, involving high pressure, likely from an asteroid impact. This, the researchers said, suggests that heavy bombardment on Mars was occurring at least 30 million years after the previous estimate.
In turn, this suggests that conditions may not have been amenable for life until a bit later, too – which coincides with the Mars timeline for another condition for life as we know it, the researchers say.
"Prior studies of zircon in Martian meteorites proposed that conditions suitable for life may have existed by 4.2 billion years ago based on the absence of definitive shock damage," says planetary geologist and geochemist Aaron Cavosie of Curtin University.
"Mars remained subject to impact bombardment after this time, on the scale known to cause mass extinctions on Earth. The zircon we describe provides evidence of such impacts, and highlights the possibility that the habitability window may have occurred later than previously thought, perhaps coinciding with evidence for liquid water on Mars by 3.9 to 3.7 billion years ago."
Given that prolonged heavy asteroid bombardment would have had the potential to vaporize any surface water and disrupt the atmosphere, though, perhaps that's not such a coincidence after all.
Are we alone in the Universe? Billions of dollars are being spent trying to answer that simple question. The implications of finding evidence for life beyond Earth are staggering. The “before and after” mark would punctuate human history.
Mars is currently the most popular exploration target to search for evidence of life elsewhere. Yet little is known about its early history. Our research on a Martian meteorite provides new clues about early surface conditions on the red planet.
Windows into the past
Today Mars is cold and inhospitable. But it may have been more Earth-like and habitable in a bygone era. Landforms on Mars record the action of liquid surface water, perhaps as early as 3.9 billion years ago.
Like Earth, early Mars was subject to a global bombardment from chunks of rock and ice floating around the Solar System. Giant impacts both destroy and create favourable environments for life. So to untangle when conditions suitable for life may have arisen on Mars, we have to track the history of both water and impacts.
A flotilla of rovers and orbiting spacecraft have been dispatched to Mars, with two NASA rovers specifically exploring impact craters for evidence of past life. Samples collected by rovers will be returned in future missions.
For now, meteorites are the only samples of Mars available to study here on Earth. Martian meteorites are born when an impact on Mars ejects rocky fragments that later intercept Earth's orbit. Most Martian meteorites are igneous rocks, such as basalt. One meteorite, NWA 7034, is different, as it represents a rare sample of the surface of Mars.
Sending shock waves
The NWA 7034 meteorite, weighing about 320g, was found in the desert of northwest Africa and first reported in 2013. Unique oxygen isotope signatures reveal its origin from Mars. Other meteorites blasted off of Mars during the same event have since been found.
NWA 7034 is a complicated rock made of broken rock and mineral shards called “breccia”. Its various fragments record different snippets of Martian history.
Tiny grains of the mineral zircon occur in NWA 7034. Zircon is a “geochronometer”, meaning it records (and reveals to us) how much time has passed since it crystallised from magma. Prior studies of NWA 7034 found it contains the oldest known zircons from Mars – some up to 4.48 billion years old.
Zircon is quite useful for studying meteorite impacts. It preserves microscopic damage caused by the passage of shock waves, and these “shocked grains” provide a solid record of impact. However, no zircons with definitive shock damage had been identified in previous studies of NWA 7034.
NWA 7034 is similar to a type of sedimentary rock on Earth called conglomerate. In such rocks, every mineral can have a different origin. With that in mind, we set out to survey additional zircon grains in NWA 7034 to see if we could find any that recorded evidence of impact.
We looked at more than 60 zircons, but found only one shocked grain. This means the impact occurred before the grain was mixed into the pile of fragments that became a rock. Reassessing Mars's timelines
The type of shock features we found are called “deformation twins”. High pressure shock waves squeeze zircon like an accordion. This process can reorganise atoms within the crystal, to form a duplicated “twin” of zircon, which we can detect.
We determined the zircon crystallised 4.45 billion years ago, making it one of the oldest zircons known from Mars – even older than the oldest known piece of Earth (also a zircon).
We don't know what kind of rock the shocked zircon originally formed in. The original igneous host rock was ripped apart during impacts on Mars. The zircon is a broken fragment from a larger grain mixed in with the matrix of the meteorite.
We do, however, know where shocked zircons like this are made. On Earth, shocked zircons with deformation twins are only found at impact craters. Moreover, they occur at all of Earth's largest asteroid strikes.
Zircons with shock features have been found at Vredefort in South Africa, Sudbury in Canada and Chicxulub in Mexico. The Mexican crater formed about 65 million years ago, and has been linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs. In this case, shocked zircons were one product of an impact large enough to cause a mass extinction.
Prior studies cited an absence of shock features in zircon from NWA 7034 to indicate a decline in catastrophic impacts on Mars by 4.48 billion years. It was further proposed that habitable conditions existed as of 4.2 billion years ago.
However, the shocked zircon we found crystallised 4.45 billion years ago. The shock event would have had to have occurred at least 30 million years after Mars had supposedly stopped being bombarded. When exactly was the impact?
Although determining the precise age of impact is difficult, geochemical studies of NWA 7034 reveal its main components were subject to meteorite impacts before roughly 4.3 billion years ago. In this scenario, the zircon may have been shocked during this time, somewhere between 4.3 and 4.45 billion years ago.
Alternatively, it may have formed more recently, but before a decline in the rate of impacts earlier than 3 billion years ago. Both land forms and water-bearing minerals argue for early surface water on Mars, possibly by 3.9 to 3.7 billion years ago. This may be the best indicator for when habitable conditions existed.
Our findings raise new questions about the early impact history of Mars. Determining the origin of the shocked zircon, and time of impact, will provide better context for interpreting the planet's history as archived in meteorite NWA 7034 – and potentially a timeframe for when conditions for life may have emerged.
PTI
Hydrogen transport proves viable but critics knock its ‘clean’ credentials
There have been some very valid concerns raised about the production process, but if the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) Pilot Project has proved anything, it is that transporting hydrogen over long distances is feasible.
The HESC project was first imagined about eight years ago by Japanese giant Kawasaki Heavy Industries and a consortium of industry partners from Japan and Australia including J-Power, Iwatani Corporation, Marubeni, Royal Dutch Shell, and Sumitomo Corporation.
According to J-Power non-executive director Jeremy Stone, the project was set up to prove a reliable, cost-effective supply chain of hydrogen as an alternative fuel to drive Japan’s economy as it transitions away from fossil fuels.
“Japan was going to go down the nuclear path to make sure it could reach net zero by 2050 targets but in 2011 Fukushima happened and they didn’t want to put all their efforts into nuclear,” he said.
“It was decided that hydrogen would be a very good, clean and alternative fuel to drive Japans economy – they were the first country to set up a hydrogen strategy in 2017, but they needed to prove they could actually do it.
“So, our project was set up to achieve that and our vision is to commercially produce carbon-neutral hydrogen through extraction from the La Trobe valley coal and biomass with carbon capture and storage,” he said.
Backed by the Federal and Victorian governments with cash injections of $50 million each, as well as funding from the Japanese government, the $500m pilot project uses lignite from AGL Energy’s newly constructed Loy Yang coal mine in the Latrobe Valley – alongside biomass, to create hydrogen with gasification technology.
Stone says the project has emitted around 580 cars worth of carbon, or 2,900 tonnes which have been offset through the purchase of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).
Earlier this month, the Suiso Frontier graced Australian shores at Victoria’s Port of Hastings with a capacity of 250 cubic metres, equating to 75 metric tons of liquid hydrogen.
Stone said to date, “a small amount” – around one tonne of hydrogen had been extracted from a mix of coal and biomass and cooled to -253 degrees Celsius at the Hasting’s hydrogen liquefaction plant before it was transported to a purpose-built tank aboard the ship.
Now, the vessel has left Australian shores and is making its way to Kobe, Japan where the team will unload the liquified hydrogen into another purpose-built storage tank onshore.
Positive step VS black hydrogen reality
While it marked a significant moment for the HESC project, it also marked a significant moment for the world’s hydrogen industry, with the first fully integrated hydrogen energy supply chain realised.
But director of energy finance studies at the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis, Tim Buckley, says the move is a desperate, last attempt at trying to create value for a product that needs to stay in the ground.
“It is black hydrogen that is effectively produced by coal gasification – you might as well burn the coal itself,” he said.
“It is important we learn by doing, and the idea of the ship is good but hydrogen has to be transported at -250 degrees which is extremely energy intensive, even more than LNG at -160.
“There is nothing clean about it, that’s why Angus Taylor loves it.” Carbon capture and storage claims under fire
Nevertheless, Stone said if the project becomes commercial it will be paired with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology developed by CarbonNet in Victoria.
“Rather than entering the atmosphere, CO2 emissions will be stored in rocks 1.5km beneath the Bass Strait,” he said.
“Over the last 10 years CarbonNet have been undertaking their own pilot testing as well – so these are two separate projects, but they are symbiotic and will be ready at the same time.”
And this is where the line gets conveniently blurred, Buckley says.
“CarbonNet have not sequestered a single unit of carbon dioxide in the 10 years that Victorian taxpayers have been funding it,” he said.
“This is a perfect example of the use of black hydrogen as a delaying tactic by dressing it up, trying to paint it blue, and pretending it’s clean and calling it clean hydrogen rather than blue because blue is hydrogen produced with gas from carbon capture and storage. “There is not a single carbon capture and storage project working in the world without massive subsidies.”
Or is CCS a critical step in the energy transition?
Chevron’s Gorgon LNG facility on Barrow Island, about 50km off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast, is one example of a failed CCS project, critics say.
While Chevron was meant to bury an average of 80 per cent of its (rather substantial) emissions over a five-year period from 2016, the system only started emissions storage in 2019 – and even after it came online, more issues ensued.
From Stone’s point of view, however, it’s a technology that has been around for 45 years and there are currently around 135 carbon capture and storage projects in various stages of development.
“When people mention Gorgon – the reality is, it hasn’t leaked any CO2,” he said.
“It has stored 5 million tonnes of CO2 which equals to the emissions of about 1 million cars.
“Yes, it hasn’t reached its annual storage target yet but it hasn’t leaked anything, and Chevron will eventually get their storage rate up.”
It is preposterous to think that, because Gorgon’s hasn’t achieved what it meant to, everyone needs to stop CCS, Stone explained.
“My view is that, if you are saying Gorgon proves it doesn’t work – to me it is like if you are building a tunnel project under the river and you encounter a problem, does that mean the world stops building tunnels?” he said.
“Everyone knows we need to do it, it is mind blowing,” he said.
“We can’t stop, we have such a major problem and in terms of CarbonNet it is incredibly close to where the hydrogen production is so it is cheap.
“There is huge storage capability in these depleted oil and gas reservoirs, we have already sucked out the oil and gas from these natural formations underwater and its basically reverse engineering where we will be pumping in liquid CO2 – completely different to what Gorgon does.”
The Morrison government has announced a further $7.5 million to support its pre-commercialisation phase and $20 million for the CCS project.