Environmental impact of an anthropogenic groundwater temperature hotspot.

Heat emitted by buildings and other infrastructure accumulates in the subsurface. This additional heat can cause a pronounced shift in thermal boundary conditions of the important groundwater ecosystem. Shallow groundwater systems in Central Europe are often inhabited by communities of fauna adapted to cold and stable conditions as well as microorganisms, whose activity is dependent on ambient temperatures.

Transfer of sulfur and chalcophile metals via sulfide-volatile compound drops in the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field.

Efficient transfer of S and chalcophile metals through the Earth's crust in arc systems is paramount for the formation of large magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits. The formation of sulfide-volatile compound drops has been recognized as a potential key mechanism for such transfer but their fate during dynamic arc magmatism remains cryptic. Combining elemental mapping and in-situ mineral analyzes we reconstruct the evolution of compound drops in the active Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field.

Seismic Monitoring of a Deep Geothermal Field in Munich (Germany) Using Borehole Distributed Acoustic Sensing.

Geothermal energy exploitation in urban areas necessitates robust real-time seismic monitoring for risk mitigation. While surface-based seismic networks are valuable, they are sensitive to anthropogenic noise. This study investigates the capabilities of borehole Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for local seismic monitoring of a geothermal field located in Munich, Germany.

Single cell ICP-MS to evaluate the interaction behaviour for Cd, Ce and U with Streptomyces coelicolor spores.

Streptomyces are important soil bacteria used for bioremediation of metal-contaminated soils, however, it is still unknown how metal-selective Streptomyces are and which mechanisms are involved during their capture. In this work, we exposed S. coelicolor spores to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.

Thermal impact of underground car parks on urban groundwater.

Built-up areas are known to heavily impact the thermal regime of the shallow subsurface. In many cities, the answer to densification is to increase the height and depth of buildings, which leads to a steady growth in the number of underground car parks. These underground car parks are heated by waste heat from car engines and are typically several degrees warmer than the surrounding subsurface, which makes them a heat source for ambient subsurface and groundwater.

Phytoscreening for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances at a Contaminated Site in Germany.

The aim of this study was to perform a phytoscreening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at a contaminated site in Germany, to investigate the applicability of this technique for PFAS contaminations. Foliage of three species, namely, white willow ( L.), black poplar ( L.

Pendulum-Based River Current Energy Converter for Hydrometric Monitoring Systems.

Energy harvesting from flowing water is important for supplying hydrometric monitoring systems. Nevertheless, it is challenging due to the chaotic water flow in only one main direction and the relatively weak energy profile. In this paper, a novel energy harvester has been proposed, designed, and validated.

Impact of synthesis conditions on the morphology and crystal structure of tungsten nitride nanomaterials.

Nanocrystalline tungsten nitride (WN ) aggregates and nanosheets are synthesized with a new alkylamine-based synthesis strategy for potential applications in nanoelectronics and catalysis. These applications preferentially require crystalline materials with controlled morphology, which has been rarely demonstrated for WN nanomaterials in the past. In the synthesis approach presented in this work, the morphology of nanoscale WN is controlled by long-chained amines that form lyotropic or lamellar phases depending on the surfactant concentration.

Who owns the German subsurface? Ownership and sustainable governance of the subsurface in Germany.

In 1980, the Federal Mining Act was introduced to govern the use of the German subsurface. By paying royalties, companies can get permission to exploit resources. Yet, there is no official report breaking down the payments for hydrocarbons and lignite, in particular regarding the effectively levied fees.

Experimental field evidence for transport of microplastic tracers over large distances in an alluvial aquifer.

The transport of microplastic tracer particles in comparison to the solute conservative tracer uranine was experimentally investigated in a shallow alluvial aquifer over distances from 3.1 to 200 m by means of a natural-gradient tracer test. The microplastic particles (MPs) with diameters of 1, 2 and 5 µm were artificially injected into an observation well to simulate microplastic transport; water samples were taken at eleven observation wells further downgradient over a time span of 171 days.

Development of thermo-reporting nanoparticles for accurate sensing of geothermal reservoir conditions.

The inaccessibility of geological reservoirs, both for oil and gas production or geothermal usage, makes detection of reservoir properties and conditions a key problem in the field of reservoir engineering, including for the development of geothermal power plants. Herein, an approach is presented for the development of messenger nanoparticles for the determination of reservoir conditions, with a proof of concept example of temperature detection under controlled laboratory conditions. Silica particles are synthesized with a two-layer architecture, an inner enclosed core and an outer porous shell, each doped with a different fluorescent dye to create a dual emission system.

Experimental and modeling evidence of kilometer-scale anomalous tracer transport in an alpine karst aquifer.

Karst aquifers are important drinking water resources, but highly vulnerable to contamination. Contaminants can be transported rapidly through a network of fractures and conduits, with only limited sorption or degradation, which usually leads to a fast and strong response at karst springs. During migration, contaminants can also enter less mobile zones, such as pools or water in intra-karstic sediments, or advance from conduits into the adjacent fractured rock matrix.

Tin-113 and Selenium-75 radiotracer adsorption and desorption kinetics in contrasting estuarine salinity and turbidity conditions.

Batch experiments were performed to study adsorption and desorption of Se and Sn radiotracers at environmentally representative concentrations of ~0.3 ng L and ~3 ng L, respectively. The radiotracers were incubated with wet bulk sediments from the Gironde Estuary and the Rhône River, combining freshwater and coastal seawater salinity (S = 0, S = 32) and three different Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) concentrations (10 mg L, 100 mg L, 1000 mg L) to simulate six hydrologically contrasting situations for each particle type.

Improved understanding of particle transport in karst groundwater using natural sediments as tracers.

Colloids and particles act as vectors for contaminant transport. In karst aquifers, particle transport is particularly efficient and plays critical roles in soil erosion and in the process of karstification. However, available techniques for particle tracing are either expensive or not representative for the transport of natural colloids and particles.

Coupling Langmuir with Michaelis-Menten-A practical alternative to estimate Se content in rice?

Selenium plays an important, but vastly neglected role in human nutrition with a narrow gap between dietary deficiency and toxicity. For a potential biofortification of food with Se, as well as for toxicity-risk assessment in sites contaminated by Se, modelling of local and global Se cycling is essential. As bioavailability of Se for rice plants depends on the speciation of Se and the resulting interactions with mineral surfaces as well as the interaction with Se uptake mechanisms in plants, resulting plant Se content is complex to model.

Comparing anthropogenic heat input and heat accumulation in the subsurface of Osaka, Japan.

In metropolitan areas, shallow groundwater temperatures are affected by anthropogenic heat sources. The resulting thermal conditions in the subsurface are highly site-specific, and spatial and temporal trends have only been revealed for a few cities. In this study, the anthropogenic heat input is quantified for 15 locations in Osaka, Japan using an analytical, one-dimensional conductive heat transport model.

Isotopic constraints on water source mixing, network leakage and contamination in an urban groundwater system.

Water supply in developing countries is prone to large water losses due to leaky distribution networks and defective sewers, which may affect groundwater quality and quantity in urban areas and result in complex subsurface mixing dynamics. In this study, a multi-stable isotope approach was used to investigate spatiotemporal fluctuations of surface and sub-surface water source partitioning and mixing, and to assess nitrogen (N) contamination in the urban water cycle of As-Salt, Jordan. Water import from the King Abdullah Canal (KAC), mains waters from the network, and wastewater are characterized by distinct isotopic signatures, which allowed us to quantify city effluents into the groundwater.

Impact of gravity, collector surface roughness and fracture orientation on colloid retention kinetics in an artificial fracture.

The interaction of monodisperse fluorescent carboxylated polystyrene colloids (25nm and 1000nm diameter) with a cut granodiorite surface (Grimsel granodiorite; Switzerland) and with acrylic glass is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Colloid transport experiments are conducted in a parallel plate type fracture flow cell with an aperture of 0.75mm at pH5 under low ionic strength (1mM NaCl) and under laminar flow (7mL/h) conditions.

Tracking Se Assimilation and Speciation through the Rice Plant - Nutrient Competition, Toxicity and Distribution.

Up to 1 billion people are affected by low intakes of the essential nutrient selenium (Se) due to low concentrations in crops. Biofortification of this micronutrient in plants is an attractive way of increasing dietary Se levels. We investigated a promising method of Se biofortification of rice seedlings, as rice is the primary staple for 3 billion people, but naturally contains low Se concentrations.

Fate and transport of free and conjugated estrogens during soil passage.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as the free estrogens 17β-estradiol (E2), estrone (E1) and the conjugated estrogen estrone-sulfate (E1-3S) are found at low concentration levels in the environment. This is somehow contradictory to the strong sorption and high degradation potentials found in laboratory experiments. In particular, the fate and transport behavior of conjugated estrogens is poorly understood, and the importance of enzymes triggering the transformation pathways has received little attention.

Detection, fate and transport of estrogen family hormones in soil.

Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), and estrone-sulfate (E1-3S) are released into the environment in significant amounts. They are known to adversely affect the endocrine systems of aquatic organisms. Although previous studies clearly demonstrate that free hormones sorb strongly to soil and degrade quickly, significant amounts of free and the more persistent conjugated estrogens can be still detected in various environmental media.