title: Feasibility of storing carbon dioxide on a tectonically active margin: New Zealand

authors: Field, Brad D.

subjects: carbon capture and storage

abstract: Screening of New Zealand's sedimentary basins indicates several gigatonnes of carbon dioxide storage capacity might be available. However, carbon dioxide storage is currently untested in New Zealand and it is likely that most theoretical storage capacity will be discounted once detailed assessments are made. New Zealand's position on an active Neogene plate boundary raises additional key factors that will affect final site selection. Issues specific to New Zealand's setting include 1) rapid facies changes, syndeposition and post-depositional structural events, particularly in regions close to the plate boundary; 2) rapid subsidence and high sedimentation rates leading to overpressured reservoirs and strong water drive in some structures, which will potentially result in injectivity issues, particularly in depleted fields; 3) mineralogically immature reservoir rocks requiring assessment of injected gas-rock reactions; 4) common occurrence of faults of various scales, requiring assessments of their sealing capacity and present stress fields; and 5) distinguishing induced seismicity from common natural seismicity. Some of these risk factors will also influence the relationship between social acceptance and the design of regulations. Despite the risks, hydrocarbon producing fields in Taranaki indicate that viable reservoir-seal pairs are likely to be present. Additionally, injection of small volumes of produced water and significant natural gas storage at the depleted Ahuroa Field, have not led to noticeable induced seismicity, though large volumes expected from a carbon dioxide injection project would likely require careful site assessment for seismic risk in some areas. Natural analogue and laboratory fluid rock experiments are investigating the effects of carbon dioxide injection on reservoir mineralogy and some effects can now be anticipated. Currently produced gas from New Zealand locally contains significant carbon dioxide (up to 44% carbon dioxide in the Taranaki region and up to 30% in the Canterbury Basin) and if new discoveries also have a high carbon dioxide content they may require processing before use, with disposal of carbon dioxide. Such a large gas discovery anywhere in New Zealand could therefore stimulate rapid deployment of CCS. It is highly likely viable storage sites exist, particularly away from the current plate boundary, though the site-specific nature of site assessment is particularly important in New Zealand's geological context.

text: Feasibility of storing carbon dioxide on a tectonically active margin: New Zealand Screening of New Zealand's sedimentary basins indicates several gigatonnes of carbon dioxide storage capacity might be available. However, carbon dioxide storage is currently untested in New Zealand and it is likely that most theoretical storage capacity will be discounted once detailed assessments are made. New Zealand's position on an active Neogene plate boundary raises additional key factors that will affect final site selection. Issues specific to New Zealand's setting include 1) rapid facies changes, syndeposition and post-depositional structural events, particularly in regions close to the plate boundary; 2) rapid subsidence and high sedimentation rates leading to overpressured reservoirs and strong water drive in some structures, which will potentially result in injectivity issues, particularly in depleted fields; 3) mineralogically immature reservoir rocks requiring assessment of injected gas-rock reactions; 4) common occurrence of faults of various scales, requiring assessments of their sealing capacity and present stress fields; and 5) distinguishing induced seismicity from common natural seismicity. Some of these risk factors will also influence the relationship between social acceptance and the design of regulations. Despite the risks, hydrocarbon producing fields in Taranaki indicate that viable reservoir-seal pairs are likely to be present. Additionally, injection of small volumes of produced water and significant natural gas storage at the depleted Ahuroa Field, have not led to noticeable induced seismicity, though large volumes expected from a carbon dioxide injection project would likely require careful site assessment for seismic risk in some areas. Natural analogue and laboratory fluid rock experiments are investigating the effects of carbon dioxide injection on reservoir mineralogy and some effects can now be anticipated. Currently produced gas from New Zealand locally contains significant carbon dioxide (up to 44% carbon dioxide in the Taranaki region and up to 30% in the Canterbury Basin) and if new discoveries also have a high carbon dioxide content they may require processing before use, with disposal of carbon dioxide. Such a large gas discovery anywhere in New Zealand could therefore stimulate rapid deployment of CCS. It is highly likely viable storage sites exist, particularly away from the current plate boundary, though the site-specific nature of site assessment is particularly important in New Zealand's geological context.

year: 2015

title: House mouse (Mus musculus) use of vertical space and impact on bird nesting success

authors: Kelly, Catherine Lindsay

subjects: Ecology

abstract: Prior to human arrival, New Zealand was dominated by birds that had evolved in the absence of mammalian predators. Early Polynesian settlers brought with them the kiore (Rattus exulans), which subsequently decimated many native species. Following this, Europeans brought ship rats (Rattus rattus), Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), house mice (Mus musculus) and an array of other mammalian predators causing even more damage to the native flora and fauna. Present day conservation strategies seek to control or eliminate invasive predator populations to give the native birds a chance to recover.
At Maungatautari – a pest-fenced reserve in the Waikato, New Zealand, mice remain as the sole invasive mammal following extensive eradication programmes. When left on their own, mouse populations are known to greatly increase. On some offshore islands in the South Atlantic and sub-Antarctic, their diet has been shown to include bird eggs and chicks, and on other islands they have used resources that were previously unavailable to them (by predator or competitive exclusion). Therefore, the aims of the present study were to examine how mice; (1) use vertical space in the presence and absence of other mammalian predators and (2) impact bird nesting success when they are the sole predator.
Chapter Two examines how mice use vertical space in the presence and absence of other mammalian predators while also quantifying how other small mammals use vertical space. Tracking devices (that included chew tags) were placed at different forest heights within two separate patches of bush, one with only mice present (Maungatautari Sanctuary) and one where all pest mammals were present

(Te Tapui Reserve). Mice were found to frequently use the lower (<5m) levels of the native bush; however, they were not detected in the canopy. In contrast, mice were detected much less frequently at Te Tapui and only on the ground. Rats and possums were detected at all forest levels. The presence of other mammals clearly constrains mouse activity through predation and/or resource competition.
Chapter Two also examined how mice use the hood of the predator proof fences at Maungatautari in the presence (external) and absence (internal) of other mammals. Cameras and tracking card were installed within the hood of the fence with tracking card also installed at the base of the fence in two areas (i.e. one with mice only present and one with all small pest mammals present) at Maungatautari Sanctuary. Mice were only found to use the base of the internal fence and were never detected in the fence hood. However both rats and mice were detected in the external fence-hood. The hood of the predator-proof fence likely provides invertebrate resources as well as a source of cover.
Chapter Three considered the impact of mice on bird nesting success when mice are the sole mammalian predator present. Bird nests were located and monitored until either chicks were fledged or they failed. Nests that were located with eggs already present were monitored for 30 days with a camera capturing any activity. These cameras were set to take an image every 5 seconds nocturnally or could be triggered at any time by movement. Of 17 nests that were found, only 2 were successful. 4 nests were found with eggs that were already deserted and 11 were abandoned during the building stage prior to egg laying. One mouse was filmed on one occasion at a song thrush (Turdus philomelos) nest, but it was not seen to interact with the nest contents.

Chapter Four summarises the results from the previous chapters and also makes recommendations for future research. The results presented in this thesis are consistent with the prediction that mice will occupy different forest spaces when they are the sole mammalian pest than when other mammalian predators were present. However no further evidence for active mouse predation on bird nests was found.

text: House mouse (Mus musculus) use of vertical space and impact on bird nesting success Prior to human arrival, New Zealand was dominated by birds that had evolved in the absence of mammalian predators. Early Polynesian settlers brought with them the kiore (Rattus exulans), which subsequently decimated many native species. Following this, Europeans brought ship rats (Rattus rattus), Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), house mice (Mus musculus) and an array of other mammalian predators causing even more damage to the native flora and fauna. Present day conservation strategies seek to control or eliminate invasive predator populations to give the native birds a chance to recover.
At Maungatautari – a pest-fenced reserve in the Waikato, New Zealand, mice remain as the sole invasive mammal following extensive eradication programmes. When left on their own, mouse populations are known to greatly increase. On some offshore islands in the South Atlantic and sub-Antarctic, their diet has been shown to include bird eggs and chicks, and on other islands they have used resources that were previously unavailable to them (by predator or competitive exclusion). Therefore, the aims of the present study were to examine how mice; (1) use vertical space in the presence and absence of other mammalian predators and (2) impact bird nesting success when they are the sole predator.
Chapter Two examines how mice use vertical space in the presence and absence of other mammalian predators while also quantifying how other small mammals use vertical space. Tracking devices (that included chew tags) were placed at different forest heights within two separate patches of bush, one with only mice present (Maungatautari Sanctuary) and one where all pest mammals were present

(Te Tapui Reserve). Mice were found to frequently use the lower (<5m) levels of the native bush; however, they were not detected in the canopy. In contrast, mice were detected much less frequently at Te Tapui and only on the ground. Rats and possums were detected at all forest levels. The presence of other mammals clearly constrains mouse activity through predation and/or resource competition.
Chapter Two also examined how mice use the hood of the predator proof fences at Maungatautari in the presence (external) and absence (internal) of other mammals. Cameras and tracking card were installed within the hood of the fence with tracking card also installed at the base of the fence in two areas (i.e. one with mice only present and one with all small pest mammals present) at Maungatautari Sanctuary. Mice were only found to use the base of the internal fence and were never detected in the fence hood. However both rats and mice were detected in the external fence-hood. The hood of the predator-proof fence likely provides invertebrate resources as well as a source of cover.
Chapter Three considered the impact of mice on bird nesting success when mice are the sole mammalian predator present. Bird nests were located and monitored until either chicks were fledged or they failed. Nests that were located with eggs already present were monitored for 30 days with a camera capturing any activity. These cameras were set to take an image every 5 seconds nocturnally or could be triggered at any time by movement. Of 17 nests that were found, only 2 were successful. 4 nests were found with eggs that were already deserted and 11 were abandoned during the building stage prior to egg laying. One mouse was filmed on one occasion at a song thrush (Turdus philomelos) nest, but it was not seen to interact with the nest contents.

Chapter Four summarises the results from the previous chapters and also makes recommendations for future research. The results presented in this thesis are consistent with the prediction that mice will occupy different forest spaces when they are the sole mammalian pest than when other mammalian predators were present. However no further evidence for active mouse predation on bird nests was found.

year: 2016

title: Uia ngā pou o te whare ask the posts of the whare:  (Re)storying the whare in curriculum

authors: Heaton, Sharyn

subjects: Whare

abstract: This research investigated the construction of whare tapawhā discourses in national curricula since 1999 and (re)presents other Māori perspectives of how a whare (house, building, school of learning, curriculum) can be known. I explored the constitutions and subjectivities of a whare and its relationship to hauora, well-being and its dimensions. The central questions raised in this thesis are how has a whare model of hauora, well-being been signified within dominant education texts, and how could a Māori (re)envisioning of a whare assist future Māori-medium hauora learning area developments? Further elaborations on how a whare can be known and its potential contribution to future hauora learning area developments take priority as a focus within this thesis.
For this study, I developed ngā pou whakaaro, a theoretical, conceptual, and methodological framework characterised by unfolding layers of awareness (and reflection) that I applied when thinking and reading through texts. Texts included primary and secondary literature such as curricula policy, hauora redevelopment wānanga (meetings, discussions) notes, hauora redevelopment video, hauora Ministry of Education milestone reports and interview transcripts. Within these texts, I searched for significations and signifiers of how the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being or a whare had been (re)presented. I searched for what was clearly evident and the assumptions made about a whare, and critiqued omissions of what had not yet been said. These gaps provided an opportunity to rewrite and reproduce other texts. 
I initially critiqued dominant representations of the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being, as evident in English-medium policy texts. I argue that the whare tapawhā model and its nuances in national curricula and compulsory schooling are not only driven by education imperatives, such as the valuing of the Māori language and knowledge in compulsory schooling, but are also assimilative in that the knowledge presented is simplistic and the understandings align more with Eurocentric ideals of well-being, albeit in the Māori language. I show that simplified significations of a whare in educational discourse shape the fictions that the texts seek to represent.
And then, in reading otherwise (Caputo, 1997, p. 62), I examined other texts about a whare and its nuances beyond what is currently known in curricula. I interviewed two Māori pouako (teachers), one Māori-medium curriculum developer, a health practitioner, a kairongoā (healer), and two tohunga whakairo (master carvers) to draw out the possibilities that exist for (re)presenting another Māori perspective of a whare. This space provided an opportunity to transgress from how the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being has been represented in curricula in Aotearoa. 
The main ideas that emerged from the interviews and the process of reflecting on the responses of the poukōrero (interview participants) provoked thinking about the possibilities of how in-depth understandings of a whare could support a (re)envisioning of the potential of a whare in future hauora learning area developments. In order to (re)turn to thinking about the place of mātauranga Māori (Māori ways of knowing), and how a whare can be known and experienced by Māori beyond what is currently (re)presented in curricula, the whare of Mautini Aroaro was examined. 
Representations of a whare may be partial and fragmented, but such representations need to be (re)traced back to their parts and elaborated upon to deepen understandings of the possible contribution that a Māori perspective could offer future Māori-medium hauora learning area re-developments. There is no one way to know a whare, nor does it need to be restricted to pre-determined representations identified in curricula. Through a restoration process, I suggest we engage with people’s experiences of a whare on different terms and (re)claim understandings of a whare as a repository and library for future generations.

text: Uia ngā pou o te whare ask the posts of the whare:  (Re)storying the whare in curriculum This research investigated the construction of whare tapawhā discourses in national curricula since 1999 and (re)presents other Māori perspectives of how a whare (house, building, school of learning, curriculum) can be known. I explored the constitutions and subjectivities of a whare and its relationship to hauora, well-being and its dimensions. The central questions raised in this thesis are how has a whare model of hauora, well-being been signified within dominant education texts, and how could a Māori (re)envisioning of a whare assist future Māori-medium hauora learning area developments? Further elaborations on how a whare can be known and its potential contribution to future hauora learning area developments take priority as a focus within this thesis.
For this study, I developed ngā pou whakaaro, a theoretical, conceptual, and methodological framework characterised by unfolding layers of awareness (and reflection) that I applied when thinking and reading through texts. Texts included primary and secondary literature such as curricula policy, hauora redevelopment wānanga (meetings, discussions) notes, hauora redevelopment video, hauora Ministry of Education milestone reports and interview transcripts. Within these texts, I searched for significations and signifiers of how the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being or a whare had been (re)presented. I searched for what was clearly evident and the assumptions made about a whare, and critiqued omissions of what had not yet been said. These gaps provided an opportunity to rewrite and reproduce other texts. 
I initially critiqued dominant representations of the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being, as evident in English-medium policy texts. I argue that the whare tapawhā model and its nuances in national curricula and compulsory schooling are not only driven by education imperatives, such as the valuing of the Māori language and knowledge in compulsory schooling, but are also assimilative in that the knowledge presented is simplistic and the understandings align more with Eurocentric ideals of well-being, albeit in the Māori language. I show that simplified significations of a whare in educational discourse shape the fictions that the texts seek to represent.
And then, in reading otherwise (Caputo, 1997, p. 62), I examined other texts about a whare and its nuances beyond what is currently known in curricula. I interviewed two Māori pouako (teachers), one Māori-medium curriculum developer, a health practitioner, a kairongoā (healer), and two tohunga whakairo (master carvers) to draw out the possibilities that exist for (re)presenting another Māori perspective of a whare. This space provided an opportunity to transgress from how the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being has been represented in curricula in Aotearoa. 
The main ideas that emerged from the interviews and the process of reflecting on the responses of the poukōrero (interview participants) provoked thinking about the possibilities of how in-depth understandings of a whare could support a (re)envisioning of the potential of a whare in future hauora learning area developments. In order to (re)turn to thinking about the place of mātauranga Māori (Māori ways of knowing), and how a whare can be known and experienced by Māori beyond what is currently (re)presented in curricula, the whare of Mautini Aroaro was examined. 
Representations of a whare may be partial and fragmented, but such representations need to be (re)traced back to their parts and elaborated upon to deepen understandings of the possible contribution that a Māori perspective could offer future Māori-medium hauora learning area re-developments. There is no one way to know a whare, nor does it need to be restricted to pre-determined representations identified in curricula. Through a restoration process, I suggest we engage with people’s experiences of a whare on different terms and (re)claim understandings of a whare as a repository and library for future generations.

year: 2022