Shortly after receiving the prestigious Humboldt Research Award, Professor Alberto Guadagnini, an expert in groundwater hydrology and hydrogeology and Vice Rector for Research at the Politecnico di Milano, visited TU Hamburg (TUHH). As part of the award, he is collaborating with Professor Nima Shokri, head of the Institute of Geo-Hydroinformatics at TUHH, on new stochastic and process-based methods for predicting groundwater quality, soil salinization, and reactive transport processes in complex subsurface systems.
In the course of this collaboration, Prof. Guadagnini gave a lecture on the “Complexity of Mineral Dissolution at Water-Rock Interfaces.” He explained how minerals dissolve unevenly when in contact with flowing water. Quantification of these processes is markedly significant to address the evolution of landscapes, groundwater, and chemicals dissolved therein. Using calcite as an exemplary mineral and cadmium as a dissolved chemical, he showed that metals dissolved in groundwater imprint dissolution processes by masking particularly active areas and altering the morphology of the mineral-water interface. “Quantitative analyses grounded on a combination of nanoscale imaging techniques and probabilistic modeling approaches provides new insights and enables quantitative and more robust predictions,” Guadagnini said.
The scientist emphasized that understanding these processes taking place at the nanoscale can help improve models for water-rock interactions, dynamic evolution of properties of groundwater bodies and pollutant migration therein. This could have critical implications for environmental and resource protection as well as for understanding of long-term Earth evolution processes. His research has significantly advanced quantitative understanding of groundwater flows, contaminat transport therein, and geochemical processes in complex natural systems.
A Helpful View into the Smallest Structures
“Understanding these nanoscale processes can help develop more robust models for water-rock interactions, pollutant transport, and geochemical changes. This is important for environmental protection, resource use, and understanding long-term changes in the Earth subsurface,” emphasized Alberto Guadagnini.
What began a year ago with a memorandum of understanding between TU Hamburg and Politecnico di Milano has since evolved into concrete collaborations, new contacts, and promising ideas for joint projects. This is an impressive example of how European partnerships create opportunities for impactful research. Numerous researchers from Politecnico di Milano and TU Hamburgare already closely networked and successfully working on joint projects. Most recently, a successful online workshop has been organized, featuring six parallel sessions with about 40 participants in total (including both Vice Presidents for Research, the President of TU Hamburg, and Prof. Guadagnini).
Founded in 1863, Politecnico di Milano is considered one of Europe’s leading technical universities, with 12 departments and approximately 48,000 students. Politecnico di Milano and TU Hamburg share the same key guiding principle: Technology for Humanity!
