The widespread degradation of permafrost-cored palsa mires due to global warming necessitates accurate quantification to estimate potential greenhouse gas (GHG) flux changes. This study utilized high-resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery to quantify palsa degradation dynamics, including lateral, vertical, and geomorphological changes in the Storflaket palsa mire in north-west Sweden. A GIS-based analysis of UAV-derived differential Digital Elevation Models (DEM) between 2016–2023 revealed subsidence on >99 % of the palsa, active lateral erosion, and thermokarst formation. Despite near-double marginal subsidence rates, interior degradation accounted for ~95 % of the total volumetric decrease, attributed to a substantially larger interior area. The mean height, area, and volume changes for the whole palsa were -43.28±7.33 %, -6.66±0.74 %, and -47.00±7.26 %, respectively. However, the large decreases in height and volume are likely overestimations. The geomorphological analysis revealed landform element changes in ~46 % of the palsa and indicated some level of predictability in these changes. The results suggest that palsa degradation induces pronounced local landscape variation, which, in combination with fragmentation, affects the degradation rate. Furthermore, geomorphological changes provide a warning of an impending increase in CH4 emissions at Storflaket. These findings highlight the importance of high-resolution remote sensing techniques to survey palsa degradation dynamics, which is essential to enhance the understanding of these processes and, in continuation, their contribution to GHG fluxes.

Marine geological surveys in Asköfjärden in the southern Stockholm Archipelago hasrevealed step like features in the sediments on the Baltic sea floor. The aim of this project is toanalyse the steps and possible formation processes from the survey data. The data used aretaken from the acoustic instruments multibeam echosunder and Chirp sonar sediment profiler.The multibeam reveal the seafloor topography and can detect water column features. TheChirp sonar produce sub-bottom profiles showing the sediments down to some tens of metersunderneath the sea floor. The multibeam data show multiple crescent shaped steps as well aselliptically shaped “pockmarks”. Water column data show what could be interpreted as seepsfrom the sea floor under these features. The sub bottom profile show deformation and fluidsignatures under the steps. Gas signatures and what could be other fluids are present. Theinterpretation concludes that the formation could be from either gas or groundwater seeps. Nodefinitive conclusions can be made from the data available for the present study, andapetrophysical or geochemical study of the study area cold provide further understanding ofthe formation of the steps.

Ståndort är ett område där ett bestånd av en viss växt finns, ofta avses träd inom skogsproduktion. Förutsättningarna för detta, ståndortsfaktorer, återfinns i markens egenskaper (edafiska faktorer) och klimatet. Dessa påverkar därigenom växtens produktion, något som särskilt är av intresse inom skogsbruket och de skogliga vetenskaperna. Till detta kommer att växter samspelar med andra växter och organismer såsom svampar, bakterier och djur, och även den antropogena påverkan med faktorer såsom husdjursbete, atmosfäriskt nedfall och skogsproduktion har en stark inverkan på vegetationen. Utifrån att studera några av de mer kända teorierna om växtsamhällen och -strategier samt olika vinklar av ståndortsfaktorer var hypotesen att det går att få fram en problematiserande bild och hitta störfaktorer (confoundingvariabler), som kan ge felaktiga tolkningar av resultat. Ett antal kända verk inom vegetationsklassificering gicks igenom, kompletterat med stödjande litteratur. En artikelsökning genomfördes också, med kombinationer av specifika sökord med anknytning till ståndort. För att begränsa urvalet och ge en mer regional prägel på arbetet ställdes sökfiltren i artikelsökningen in på att enbart visa resultat från Skandinavien och Finland. Artiklarna delades in efter teman och behandlades efter dessa. Även om få huvudsakliga faktorer styr vegetationen finns flera variabler som lokalt har en stor betydelse, såsom snö, genetiska egenskaper och symbios med andra organismer. Dessa variabler kan vara svåra att mäta och det finns mycket på detaljnivå som är dåligt undersökt. Markanvändningar påverkar de edafiska faktorerna långt efter att brukandet ändrats eller upphört, men detta har olika stor lokal påverkan. Kvävets och kolets halter och cykler är återkommande osäkerhetsfaktorer i artiklarna, där det atmosfäriska kvävenedfallet spelar en viktig men ojämn roll, och jämförbara mätningar försvåras av skillnader i väder och klimat. Till detta kommer påverkan av markorganismer, vilka har en mycket viktig del i växternas näringsupptag, men är svår att mäta. Även om alla aspekter av en växtplats inte kan tas med bör fler felkällor tas i beaktande och modeller ha möjlighet att kalibreras mot olika teorier om växtsamhällen och -strategier. Flera faktorer som traditionellt inte räknas som ståndortsfaktorer, såsom snödjup, symbios med markorganismer och markanvändning, kan vara betydelsefulla att ta med i exempelvis modellering. / A site is an area where a population of a specific plant species has its habitat, often the connotation is forestry. The prerequisites for this, the site indices (also site variables or stand variables), can be found in the characteristics of the ground (edaphic factors) as well as the climatic impact. These elements affect the growth and production, which is of interest in forestry and forest sciences. Upon this the plants interact with each other as well as with other organisms, i.e. fungi, bacteria and animals, and there is also an anthropogenic impact where factors such as livestock grazing, atmospheric deposition and forest production strongly affects the vegetation. By studying some of the more prominent theories on vegetation societies/sociologies and plant strategies, as well as different aspects of the site concept, the hypothesis was that a problematizing picture of site indices can be found and some confounding variables that can give erroneous interpretation of results. A number of major works in vegetation classification was gone through, supplemented by supporting literature. An article search was conducted to find journal articles, using combinations of specific search terms related to site indices. To narrow down the results and give a more regional touch to the thesis, the filter was set only to show results from Scandinavia and Finland. The articles were grouped into themes and handled theme-wise. Even though there are few principal factors controlling the vegetation there are a number of variables which locally can have a large impact, such as snow, genetic traits and symbiosis. These variables can be hard to measure, and a lot of things at a detailed level are poorly investigated. Land use modifies the edaphic properties long after the usage have changed or been discontinued. The amounts and cycles of nitrogen and carbon are recurrent uncertainties in the articles, where deposits of nitrogen from the atmosphere plays an important but uneven role and measurements can be hard to compare due to differences in weather and climate. Added to this, organisms in the ground have a major role in the plants’ nutrient uptake, but the effects can be hard to study. A concluding remark is that even though all aspects of a site cannot always be included more confounding variables could be taken in account and models should be able to be calibrated to different theories on vegetation societies/sociologies and plant strategies. Many factors normally not counted as site indices, i.e. snow depth, soil biota symbiosis, and land use, could be valuable to include in e.g. modelling.

Ekobacken, Värmdö kommun, har problem med surt yt- och grundvatten med höga metallhalter. Uppmärksamheten har riktats mot berggrunden som krossats och lagrats i deponihögar. Bildningen av sur lak styrs av flertalet geokemiska egenskaper, bland annat vilka sulfidmineral som förekommer och deras kristallstruktur. Prover från Ekobacken har undersökts utifrån sulfidhalt, kristallarea för opaka mineral och surgörande potential för att kunna utröna om ett samband finns mellan kristallareafördelning och lakningsegenskaper. Proverna har mikroskopiskt undersökts i reflekterande ljus för att skilja ur vilka opaka faser som förekommer samt har tunnslip fotograferats för att bildanalysera de opaka faserna utifrån area och form. Ett statiskt laktest utfördes på proverna för att kvantifiera dess lakningsegenskaper. Resultatet visar att bergarterna bestod i stor del av kvarts, fältspat och biotit i olika fördelningar. Opaka faser som förekom var pyrit, grafit, kopparkis och magnetit. Bergarterna visade sig generellt ha hög sulfidhalt från ABA resultatet, där ett prov hade en halt på 0,61 vikt%, medan andra prov hade relativt hög bufferförmåga och därför ingen surgörande potential. Proverna som undersöktes visade sig vara likartade varandra i förhållande till kristallareafördelning av opaka faser och form. I den här studien gick ingen direkt korrelation mellan provens kristallareafördelning för opaka faser och lakningspotential att utröna / Ekobacken, Värmdö municipality, have a problem with acidic surface- and groundwater with high metal content. The attention has been directed towards the bedrock which have been crushed and stored in landfills. The production of acid drainage is controlled by multiple geochemical properties inter alia which sulphide minerals are present and the structure of crystals. Samples from Ekobacken has been collected and analysed for sulphide content, crystal-area of sulphide minerals and acidic potential to investigate if there is a correlation between crystal-area distribution and leachability. The samples were examined under reflective light microscopy to determine the different opaque phases present and the thin sections were photographed for a photo analysis regarding crystal area and shape. A static leachability test was performed to be able to quantify the samples potential to produce acidic drainage. The results show that the samples contained mostly quartz, feldspars and biotite. Opaque phases present were pyrite, graphite, chalcopyrite and magnetite. ABA results showed high sulphide content, where one sample reached 0,61 wt. % sulphide content. Other samples contained relative high ability to buffer acidic reaction and thus showed no potential to produce acidic drainage. The samples were homogenous to each other with regard of crystal-area distribution of opaque phases and aspect-ratio of individual crystals and in this study no direct correlation between the sample’s crystal-area distribution of opaque phases and potential to produce acidic drainage was apparent.

This report examines the size variations of fossil carbonate-producing haptophyte microalgae, coccolithophores, using sediments deposited during the Pliocene. The sediments were collected by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) in 2015, off the coast of NW Australia (Gallagher et al., 2017). A climate shift from arid to humid, warm climate occurred over northwest Australia during the early Pliocene, leading to the so-called “Humid Interval” 5.5-3.3 Ma (Christensen et al., 2017). The investigated samples cover approximately 1 million years within this Humid Interval (~4.5 to 3.5 million years ago, Ma). The cell size of coccolithophores can be related to growth and carbonate production rates, and thus size becomes important to examine as these marine algae are considered to be a big part of the carbon cycle. Previous laboratory work has shown that environmental factors such as temperature, nutrient availability, and pH affect extant coccolithophore cell size. By looking at reports concerning related extant species, such as Emiliania huxleyi, clues can be given as to why the fossil genusReticulofenestra may have changed in cell size during the Pliocene. The measurements of fossil Reticulofenestra coccospheres in this report show an increase in cell size during the studied interval that could be due to heat stress, limited nutrient availability, or other factors, that are less beneficial for the growth of coccolithophores. / Denna rapport undersöker storleksvariationerna av fossila kalkproducerande fästalger, kokkolitoforider, i sediment avsatta under Pliocen. Sedimenten samlades in av International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) under år 2015, utanför Australiens nordvästra kust (Gallagher et al., 2017). En klimatskiftning inträffade över nordvästra Australien under tidig Pliocen, från ett torrt klimat till ett varmt och fuktigt klimat 5.5 miljoner år sedan och dessa klimatförhållanden varade till ca. 3.3 miljoner år sedan (Christensen et al., 2017). De prov som studerades i denna studie täcker en tidsperiod på 1 miljon år (från ca 4,5 till 3,5 miljoner år sedan, Ma). Kokkolitoforidernas cellstorlek kan indikera tillväxthastighet och karbonatproduktionshastighet, och således blir storleken viktig att undersöka eftersom dessa alger är en stor del av kolcykeln. Tidigare laboratoriearbete har visat att miljöfaktorer som temperatur, näringstillgänglighet och pH påverkar existerande fästalgers cellstorlek genom förändrade tillväxthastigheter och deras förmåga att bilda kalk. Genom att titta på rapporter om besläktade levande arter, såsom Emiliania huxleyi, kan ledtrådar ges till varför det fossila släkte Reticulofenestra kan ha förändrats i cellstorlek under Pliocens varma klimat. Mätningarna av fossila Reticulofenestra cellerna i denna rapport visar att en ökning av cellstorleken kan ses under intervallet, vilket kan bero på antingen förhöjda temperaturer, begränsad tillgång till näringsämnen eller andra faktorer som är mindre fördelaktiga för fästalgernas tillväxt.

Iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) mineral plays an important role in a variety of atmospheric, terrestrial and technological settings. Molecular resolution of reactions involving these minerals is thereby required to develop a fundamental understanding of their contributions in processes taking place in the atmosphere, Earth’s upper crust as well as the hydrosphere. This study resolves interactions involving four different types of synthetic FeOOH particles with distinct and well-defined surfaces, namely lath- and rod-shaped lepidocrocite (γ), goethite (α) and akaganéite (β). The surface and bulk reactivities of these particles are controlled by their distinct structures. When exposed to ambient atmospheric or aqueous conditions their surfaces are populated with different types of (hydr)oxo functional groups acting as reaction centers. These sites consist of hydroxyl groups that can be singly- (≡FeOH, -OH), doubly- (≡Fe2OH, μ-OH), or triply-coordinated (≡Fe3OH, μ3-OH) with underlying Fe atoms. Moreover, these sites exhibit different types, densities, distributions, as well as hydrogen bonding patterns on different crystal planes for each mineral. Knowledge of the types and distributions of hydroxyl groups on minerals with different surface structures is fundamental for building a molecular-scale understanding of processes taking place at FeOOH particle surfaces. In this thesis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to resolve the interactions between (hydr)oxo groups of FeOOH particles with (in)organic acids, salts, water vapor as well as carbon dioxide. The focus on such compounds was justified by their importance in natural environments. This thesis is based on 9 articles and manuscripts that can be found in the appendices. FTIR spectroscopic signatures of hydroxyl groups in the bulk of well crystallized FeOOH minerals were characterized for structural differences and thermal stabilities. Those of akaganéite were particularly resolved for the variable bond strength of bulk hydroxyls induced by the incorporation of HCl through nanostructured channels at the terminations of the particles. FTIR bands of hydroxyl groups at all particle surfaces were monitored for responses to thermal gradients and proton loadings, providing experimental validation to previous theoretical accounts on surface site reactivity. This site reactivity was resolved further in the fluoride (F-) and phosphate (PO43-) ions adsorption study to follow the site selectivity for ligand-exchange reactions. These efforts showed that singly-coordinated groups are the primary adsorption centers for ligands, doubly-coordinated groups can only be exchanged at substantially higher ligand loadings, while triply coordinated groups are largely resilient to any ligand-exchange reaction. These findings helped consolidate fundamental knowledge that can be used in investigating sorption processes involving atmospherically and geochemically important gases. The latter parts of this thesis were therefore focused on water vapor and carbon dioxide interactions with these FeOOH particles. These efforts showed how surface structure and speciation affect sorption loadings and configurations, as well as how water diffused into and through the akaganéite bulk. Hydrogen bonding is one of the most important forms of interactions between gas phase and minerals. It plays a crucial role in the formation of thin water films and in stabilizing surface (bi)carbonate species. The affinity of surface hydroxyl groups for water and carbon dioxide is strongly dependent on their abilities to form hydrogen bonds. These are controlled by coordination number and site accessibility/steric constraints. In agreement with the aforementioned ligand-exchange studies, surfaces dominated by singly coordinated groups have stronger ability to accumulate water layers than the ones terminated by groups of larger coordination number. Collectively, these efforts consolidate further the concept for structure-controlled reactivities in iron oxyhydroxides, and pave the way for new studies along such lines.

Latin America has pioneered the concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a strategy to improve the management of ecosystem services. Ecuador is not an exception, where many PES schemes have been implemented to protect the tropical mountain ecosystem “páramo” and the water resources these areas are generating for downstream societies. A successful PES scheme needs to achieve both targeted bio-physical objectives and at the same time benefit local conditions while not risking to sacrifice the local demand for ecosystem services. This balance is explored here in a case study focusing on the Río Grande watershed in the highlands in the northern parts of Ecuador by exemplifying community participation in the public PES scheme Socio Bosque (PSB) starting in 2009. The water resource distribution (precipitation, discharge, actual evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration) in the watershed was evaluated over the last decades. The local perception of the PSB and its impacts on local and regional water resources were also studied and characterized. The results showed that the annual discharge in the Río Grande watershed has decreased significantly from 1967-2014 and that the annual discharge was significantly lower between 1997-2015 compared to 1979-1997. Since precipitation did not decrease significantly during this period, the changes of the annual discharge are more likely depended on factors controlling the seasonal distribution of discharge and evapotranspiration in the watershed. For example, large scale land use changes coupled with a significantly warmer climate in the region could be a possible driver. Of course, this would not exclude other important factors such as changes in water demand and the supply of freshwater from the Río Grande watershed to downstream societies. The results of this case study showed that it is likely too early to see any impacts in the water balance components as a direct response to the implemented PSB scheme. Clearly, this motivates a need for continued evaluation of the local perception and the water resources to ensure that the need and demand for ecosystem services in a long-term perspective are maintained. / Latinoamérica ha sido pionera en el concepto de Pago por Servicios Ecosistémicos (PSE o PES en lassiglas en inglés) como estrategia para mejorar la gestión de servicios ecosistémicos. En Ecuador, se han implementado muchos PSE para proteger el ecosistema montañoso tropical de El Páramo así como los recursos acuíferos que dichas áreas generan para las sociedades que habitan cuenca abajo. Un esquema de PSE exitoso requiere alcanzar los objetivos biofísicos y respetar las necesidades locales de servicios ambientales. Este equilibrio se ha analizado tomando como objeto de estudio la cuenca hidrográfica del Río Grande en las tierras altas del norte de Ecuador y la participación comunitaria en el programa de PSE denominado Socio Bosque (PSB) iniciado en 2009. Se estudiaron la distribución del agua (precipitación, descarga del agua, evapotranspiración actual y evapotranspiración potencial) en la cuenca hidrográfica durante las últimas décadas. También se estudiaron los impactos locales y regionales del PSB en los recursos hídricos y los percepción local con respecto a la implementación de PSB. Los resultados muestran que la descarga anual de la cuenca hidrográfica ha decrecido significativamente durante el período comprendido entre 1967 y 2014, particularmente, señalan un decrecimiento considerablemente mayor entre 1997 y 2015 con respecto al período 1979-1997. La precipitación no se redujo durante el período estudiado y, en consecuencia, los cambios en la descarga anual dependen presumiblemente de factores que controlan la distribución estacional de la descarga y la evapotranspiración en la cuenca. Como ejemplo, los intensos cambios en el uso del suelo junto a un clima regional marcadamente más cálido pueden ser dos condicionantes del fenómeno. Esto no excluye otros factores como los cambios en la demanda y abastecimiento de agua potable en la cuenca del Río Grande en las comunidades que se encuentran distribuidas a lo largo del río. Los resultados muestran que es aún temprano para observar impactos en los componentes del balance hídrico como resultado directo de la implementación de un esquema de PSB. Esto motiva la necesidad de una evaluación continua de la percepción local y un monitoreo los recursos hídricos para garantizar que las necesidades y demandas de servicios ecosistémicos en la región se mantengan a largo plazo.

This thesis study employs textural classification techniques applied to four different data groups: (1) visible light photography, (2) high-resolution drill core line scan imaging (3) scanning electron microscopy backscattered electron (SEM-BSE) images, and (4) 3D data from X-ray microtomography (μXCT). Eleven textural classes from Aitik ores were identified and characterized. The distinguishing characteristics of each class were determined such as modal mineralogy, sulphide occurrence and Bond work indices (BWI). The textural classes served as a basis for machine learning classification using Random Forest classifier and different feature extraction schemes. Trainable Weka Segmentation was utilized to produce mineral maps for the different image datasets. Quantified textural information for each mineral phase such as modal mineralogy, mineral association index and grain size was extracted from each mineral map.  Efficient line local binary patterns provide the best discriminating features for textural classification of mineral texture images in terms of classification accuracy. Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) statistics from discrete approximation of Meyer wavelets decomposition with basic image statistical features[PK1]  (e.g. mean, standard deviation, entropy and histogram derived values) give the best classification result in terms of accuracy and feature extraction time. Differences in the extracted modal mineralogy were observed between the drill core photographs and SEM images which can be attributed to different sample size[PK2] . Comparison of SEM images and 2D μXCT image slice shows minimal difference giving confidence to the segmentation process. However, chalcopyrite is highly underestimated in 2D μXCT image slice, with the volume percentage amounting to only half of the calculated value for the whole 3D sample. This is accounted as stereological error. Textural classification and mineral map production from basic drill core photographs has a huge potential to be used as an inexpensive ore characterization tool. However, it should be noted that this technique requires experienced operators to generate an accurate training data especially for mineral identification and thus, detailed mineralogical studies beforehand is required. / Primary Resource Efficiency by Enhanced Prediction (PREP) / Center for Advanced Mining and Metallurgy (CAMM)

In a particle based geometallurgical model, the behavior of the particles can be used for forecast the products and quantify the performance of the different ore types within a deposit. The particle tracking is an algorithm developed by Lamberg and Vianna 2007 whose aim is to balance the liberation data in a mineral processing circuit composed by several processing units. Currently, this tool is being developed for the HSC Chemistry software by Outotec.The objective of this study is to understand and evaluate the particle tracking algorithm in a geometallurgical test for iron ore. To achieve this objective, the liberation data is balanced in a Davis tube test circuit. A total of 13 samples from Leveäniemi iron ore were process in a Davis tube circuit.The magnetite is the main mineral in the Leveäniemi iron ore samples. Its high recovery in the Davis tube circuit along with the V, Ti and Mn suggest that these elements are present in the magnetite lattice. These penalty elements in the iron concentrates cannot be avoided at the stage of mineral concentrations.The washing effect of the Davis tubes controlled by the rotational and longitudinal agitation of the tube perturb the particles agglomeration between the pole tips of the electromagnet. A higher agitation frequency and amplitude will wash away most of the gangue minerals and also fine grained magnetite.In this work, the particle tracking is depicted and implemented in a magnetic separation circuit for high liberated material. The liberation data was balanced in a way that the particle classes can be followed through circuit and their recoveries can be calculated. Nevertheless, the algorithm requires further validation and analysis of its limitations in terms of resolution and reproducibility.

To be able to plan and construct a Swedish society that is well prepared for geological hazards, the government need to know about past event that has happened during the history, so they know how to plan for the future. Highly possible events that will happen are flooding, landslides, volcanic gases in the atmosphere and earthquakes. Flooding is the hazard that we need to consider most when we construct new infrastructure and buildings in the future. Climate changes will cause more precipitation and extreme weather, these will lead to more flooding when the water isn’t able to percolate down into the ground. When the ground is saturated with water another problem will be even more common, and that is a bigger frequency of landslides. The most dramatic consequence that would occur is from volcanic gases that go up into the atmosphere at an eruption, these can change the climate and create acid rain far away from the volcanic source. It isn’t just the direct hazards we need to consider while constructing the society, the question regarding nuclear waste and its long-term storage is highly important. Therefore is it very important to carefully consider where, and when big earthquakes have occurred since the last glaciation. / För att kunna planera och bygga upp ett Sverige som är förberett för potentiella geologiska faror och problem, behöver samhället ha koll på olika event som hänt i historien som kan påverka samhällets olika funktioner. Event som kan ske och som kan hota samhällsuppbyggnaden är tillexempel översvämningar, skred och ras, klimat påverkan från vulkanisk aktivitet samt jordbävningar. Översvämningar är den fara som är mest frekvent i Sverige och som vi inför framtiden kommer behöva skydda samhället mest emot. Klimatförändringarna världen står inför ger en ökning av nederbörd i olika former, när jorden blir vattenmättad ökar även riskerna för skred markant vilka också kommer öka i frekvens. De största dramatiska och mest utspridda farorna som kan påverka Sverige är om ett avlägset vulkanutbrott sker. Aerosolerna som hamnar i atmosfären kan ge ett förändrat klimat långt ifrån källan och i vissa fall påverka hela jorden, samtidigt som försurning av regnvatten kan ske. Det är inte bara direkta risker och faror samhället står inför idag som behövs beaktas när samhället struktureras och byggs upp, jordbävningsrisken i olika delar av landet efter en glaciation behöver undersökas där kärnbränsle skall slutförvaras för att förhindra eventuellt framtida läckage av radioaktivt kärnbränsle.