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The Role of Microenvironments and Physicochemical Subsurface Components on Field Scale Biogeochemistry and Contaminant Mobility


EMSL Project ID
46203

Abstract

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science issues through integrated, multi-disciplinary, science-theme focused research on the role of microenvironments and transition zones in the reactive transport of technetium (Tc), uranium (U), and plutonium (Pu). The overall ten-year goals of the SFA are to develop: i.) an integrated conceptual model for microbial ecology in the Hanford subsurface and its influence on contaminant migration, ii.) a fundamental understanding of chemical reaction, biotransformation, and physical transport processes in microenvironments and transition zones, and iii.) quantitative biogeochemical reactive transport models for Tc, U, and Pu that integrate multi-process coupling at different spatial scales for field-scale application. Targeted contaminant chemical reaction and biotransformation processes include heterogeneous/biologic electron transfer, precipitation and dissolution, and surface complexation. The EMSL component of this research will be laboratory experiments and measurements to further the understanding of field-scale phenomena. We will use sediments and microbial isolates from various Hanford settings to explore molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic processes underlying field-scale contaminant migration. The SFA will partner with the PNNL Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) to develop molecular understandings of key processes, and the Hanford Integrated Field Challenge (IFC) for access to, and samples from subsurface environments where these zones exist and are important.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2011-11-07
End Date
2012-11-11
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

James McKinley
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Ying Liu
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Richard Collins
Institution
University of New South Wales

Xingyuan Chen
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Zhangshuan Hou
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Vitali Alexandrov
Institution
University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Shawn M Chatman
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Carolyn Pearce
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Juan Liu
Institution
Peking University

Dean Moore
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Robert Ewing
Institution
Iowa State University

Michael Wilkins
Institution
Colorado State University

Timothy Scheibe
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Piotr Zarzycki
Institution
Polish Academy of Sciences

Matthew Marshall
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Andrew Felmy
Institution
Washington State University

Frances Skomurski
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Sebastien Kerisit
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Thomas Wietsma
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Allan Konopka
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Liang Shi
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Mark Engelhard
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Yilin Fang
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Chongxuan Liu
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Glenn Hammond
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Mark Rockhold
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Scott Fendorf
Institution
Stanford University

Peter Lichtner
Institution
Los Alamos National Laboratory

James Fredrickson
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Timothy Droubay
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Zheming Wang
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Odeta Qafoku
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Kevin Rosso
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Alice Dohnalkova
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

John Zachara
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Ravi Kukkadapu
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Bruce Arey
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Michael Hochella
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Related Publications

Alexandrov VY, A Neumann, M Scherer, and KM Rosso. 2013. "Electron Exchange and Conduction in Nontronite from First-Principles." Journal of Physical Chemistry C 117(5):2032-2040. doi:10.1021/jp3110776
Breuer M, PP Zarzycki, J Blumberger, and KM Rosso. 2012. "Thermodynamics of Electron Flow in the Bacterial Deca-heme Cytochrome MtrF." Journal of the American Chemical Society 134(24):9868-9871. doi:10.1021/ja3027696
Katz JE, X Zhang, K Attenkofer, KW Chapman, C Frandsen, PP Zarzycki, KM Rosso, R Falcone, G Waychunas, and B Gilbert. 2012. "Electron small polarons and their mobility in iron (oxyhydr)oxide nanoparticles." Science 337(6099):1200-1203. doi:10.1126/science.1223598
Lilova KI, CI Pearce, CA Gorski, KM Rosso, and A Navrotsky. 2012. "Thermodynamics of the Magnetite-Ulvöspinel (Fe3O4-Fe2TiO4) Solid Solution." American Mineralogist 97(0809):1330-1338.
Liu J, CI Pearce, O Qafoku, E Arenholz, SM Heald, and KM Rosso. 2012. "Tc(VII) Reduction Kinetics by Titanomagnetite (Fe3-xTixO4) Nanoparticles." Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 92:67-81. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2012.06.004
Pearce CI, MJ Wilkins, C Zhang, SM Heald, JK Fredrickson, and JM Zachara. 2012. "Pore-Scale Characterization of Biogeochemical Controls on Iron and Uranium Speciation under Flow Conditions." Environmental Science & Technology 46(15):7992-8000. doi:10.1021/es301050h
Pearce CI, O Qafoku, J Liu, E Arenholz, SM Heald, RK Kukkadapu, CA Gorski, CMB Henderson, and KM Rosso. 2012. "Synthesis and properties of titanomagnetite (Fe3-xTixO4) nanoparticles: A tunable solid-state Fe(II/III) redox system." PNNL-SA-86362, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA.
Yang X, TD Scheibe, MC Richmond, WA Perkins, SJ Vogt, SL Codd, JD Seymour, and MI Mckinley. 2012. "Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Scale Flow in a Bead Pack: Validation against Magnetic Resonance Imaging Observations." Advances in Water Resources 54 (2013) 228-241.