Subsurface Science Research Area
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is an international leader in subsurface science, which focuses on developing and applying basic understanding of biogeochemical reactions, energy, and mass transfer to predict, assess, mitigate, and design and operate environmental processes. Our expertise includes
- Molecular-to-field- scale biogeochemistry and reactive and multiphase transport modeling
- Laboratory-to-field scale geohydrology, hydrology, and multiphase flow modeling
- Ecological assessment, management, and monitoring
- Human health and environmental risk assessment
- Environmental systems technology development and deployment, such as field-deployable monitoring systems for ultratrace detection of radionuclides in groundwater and a below-ground monitoring method for microbial activity at a uranium mill tailings site.
Our scientists apply their expertise toward the protection of regional water sources and aquatic ecosystems affected by contaminated soils and groundwater, releases from waste disposal units, climate change mitigation, energy development, water use, and hydropower systems operations.
This expertise includes an iterative experimental and modeling approach to contaminant fate and transport at U.S. Department of Energy sites, demonstrating our leadership at the Integrated Field Research Challenge located within the southern tip of the Hanford Site. We also focus our research on molecular-scale biogeochemical processes, field relevant microsites, and transition zones.
Related Highlights
- Methane Goes Out With Carbon Dioxide, But There's a Catch
- Tracking Mechanisms of Crystallization in Real Time
- Water Molecules Play Unexpected Role in Mineral Formation
- Kevin Rosso Joins National Academies' Committee
- Atoms Rearrange in Electrolyte and Control Ion Flow under Tough Conditions
- Geochemists Organize Several Events at National Conference
- Stopping "Crud" from Sticking to Surfaces by Isolating "One Cheering Voice in a Stadium"
- Cracking Under Pressure is No Problem for High Strength Self-Healing Cement
- Parsing Signals to Reveal Manganese's True Chemical Nature
- "Dream Team" Chosen to Study Basic Science of Nuclear Waste
- From Inches to Miles: The Science of Scaling the Subsurface
- Kevin Rosso Invited to Give Prestigious International Lecture
- Microbes Take Center Stage in Workings of "the River's Liver"
- Article Named Top 100 of 2015 by Frontiers Blog
- Getting Water to All the Right Places for Carbon Sequestration
- New Insight on How Crystals Form May Advance Materials, Health, and Basic Science
- Encouraging Minerals to Capture Troubling Radionuclides
- Simulating Subsurface Flow and Transport at Multiple Scales
- Speeding Up the Epochs
- The Microbe Mineral Makeover
- Geologic CO2 Sequestration Inhibits Microbial Growth
- 2014 Key Scientific Accomplishments Report Now Available
- Birth of a Material
- Uranium Release Slows with Aging
- Jim Amonette Revises Model to Provide Detailed Data for Philanthropy Report
- Several Faces of Physics Become One
- Putting the Pressure on Carbon Dioxide
- Iron-bearing Minerals in Sediments Naturally Reduce Contaminant Levels
- Sebastien Kerisit Appointed Associate Editor for Geochemical Transactions
- Hugging Hemes Help Electrons Hop
- Reaction Performs Differently in Different Size Pores
- Cutting Through Complexity: Probing Soil Microbial Communities at the Aggregate Scale
- Vanessa Bailey Named Wiley Research Fellow
- Novel Statistical Approach for Understanding Microbial Community Ecology
- Computer Simulations Indicate Calcium Carbonate Has a Dense Liquid Phase
- Aquatic Microbe Oxidizes Iron Minerals from the Surface Inward
- New Facet of Extracellular Electron Transfer Found
- Rosettes and Rods
- Ions Shed Water to Slide into the Perfect Pore
- New Bacteria Divisions Discovered
- 2012 Fundamental & Computational Sciences Accomplishments Report Now Available
- Creating an Iron Understudy
- New Protein Discovered Gives Insights to Iron's Fate Underground
- Turning Down the Heat for Carbon
- Mother Nature as a Wire Manufacturer
- Plump Up the Clay
- Pinpointing Plutonium Proclivities
- Digging Deeper in the Dirt
- The Preferences of Uranium
- Stories of Discovery and Innovation-
Terminating Toxic Metals