Scientists who study Arctic ecosystems have forewarned a “sleeping giant” hidden within permafrost soils–trillions of tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases that will be released when rapid thaw awakens microbes, activating soil decomposition. Improving what is known about microbial community makeup and behavior in these fragile ecosystems could help determine how consequential rapid permafrost thaw will…
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Soil harbors three times as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere, but until recently research into how warming affects the amount of carbon released from soil into the atmosphere was limited to investigations of the top meter of soil. Researchers at Berkeley Lab are the first to examine soils and sediments as deep as seven…
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Scientists who study the exchange of chemicals in rivers and streams examine activity taking place within the nutrient-rich portions of streambeds, floodplains, and riverbanks known as hyporheic zones – which provide habitat for various aquatic organisms. Berkeley Lab researchers investigating hyporheic exchange have now shown that meanders near the headwaters of the Colorado…
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Mineral surface area largely controls the interactions of minerals with fluids and microbes, and the rate of chemical reactions, including mineral dissolution, precipitation, and oxidation-reduction which involves a transfer of electrons between two species. New research from EESA explores the impact of surface roughness on mineral dissolution rates in micro-fractures within rocks deep underground.…
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Groundwater contamination is increasingly recognized as a widespread environmental problem. The most important course of action often involves long-term monitoring. But what is the most cost-effective way to monitor when the contaminant plumes are large, complex, and long-term, or an unexpected event such as a storm could cause sudden changes in contaminant levels that may…
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Isotope geochemists at Berkeley Lab are the first to establish the degree of Potassium (K) isotopic fractionation by plants. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons. Scientists have just in the past decade begun studying for key nutrient elements (other than C,…
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Berkeley Lab researchers who study aquifer recharge and groundwater quality measured concentrations and isotopic composition of the trace element Strontium (Sr) in groundwater to evaluate how local topography affects the amount of groundwater recharge across a semi-dry riparian floodplain in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Their study location was the Rifle Site, one of 18 former…
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EESA Scientists were able to use the new synchrotron Infrared Nano Spectroscopy (SINS) capability at Advanced Light Source. Above: Diagrams of the setup of (a) the Germanium-hemisphere enhanced attenuated total reflection (Ge micro-ATR) and (b) the resonance enhanced SINS. Berkeley Lab scientists have identified a way to use machine learning to connect fine-…
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Two papers published in 2017 by geophysics researchers within the Energy Geosciences Division have been honored by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Geophysics Department Head Jonathan Ajo-Franklin was notified that the studies received Honorable Mention in the category of Best Paper in Geophysics in April. The papers published by the society are: An effective-medium model for P-wave…
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Scientists have directly measured the increasing greenhouse effect of methane at the Earth’s surface for the first time. A research team from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) tracked a rise in the warming effect of methane — one of the most important greenhouse gases for the Earth’s atmosphere — over a…
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