Biogeochemical activity in the hyporheic zone (HZ), sediments where the flowing waters of a river mix with shallow groundwater, supports many of the biological processes that occur within a watershed.

Turbulent vertical fluxes of heat, water vapor, and carbon dioxide (CO2) occur constantly between land surfaces and the atmosphere.

Co-authors of a paper in Hydrological Processes led by PNNL researchers Zhangshuan Hou, Timothy Scheibe, and Christopher Murray, produced a map that identifies different classes of sediments which compose the riverbed along the Hanford ...

A multi-institutional team of scientists developed a new sensitivity analysis framework using Bayesian Networks to quantify which parameters and processes in complex multi-physics models are least understood.

Reactive transport models (RTMs) are used to describe and predict the distribution of chemicals in time and space, in both marine and terrestrial (surface and near-surface) environments where microbially-mediated processes govern...

Hydrologic exchange flows (HEFs) increase the contact between river water and subsurface sediments thereby playing a critical role in biogeochemical and ecological functions along river corridors.

Hydrologic exchange fluxes (HEFs) between rivers and surrounding subsurface environments strongly influence water temperatures and biogeochemical processes. Yet, quantitative measures of their effects on the strength and direction of such e

Despite a breadth of research on carbon accrual and persistence in soils, scientist lack a strong, general understanding of the mechanisms through which soil organic carbon (SOC) is destabilized in soils. In a new review article, researcher

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Kansas State University found that soil drying significantly affected the structure and function of soil microbial communities.

Soil microbial communities are made of networks of interacting species that dynamically reorganize in a changing environment. Understanding how such microbiomes are organized in nature is important for designing or controlling them in the f

Soil microbiomes are among the most diverse microbial communities on Earth. They also play an immense role in cycling soil carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients that underpin the terrestrial food web.

Scientists at PNNL's Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) are working to understand the fundamental reactivity of H2 that could contribute to making hydrogen a more widely used fuel source.

Using a bio-inspired design that mimics nature's catalysts-enzymes, researchers at PNNL have designed a rarely seen reversible synthetic catalyst.

At PNNL, scientists have mapped the reaction that turns wind-generated electricity into fuel and the amount of energy needed for each step.

Dr. Morris Bullock and Dr. Monte Helm reviewed the catalysis research at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, where Bullock is the director, in a recent article in Accounts of Chemical Research.

Generating power without gasoline, diesel, or coal could change our nation's energy and security landscape. However, replacing technologies that use fossil fuel with ones that require rare metals is unsustainable.

Making hydrogen economically demands a quick, efficient reaction. Creating that reaction demands a catalyst. CME scientists found that a proton and water-packed environment lets the catalyst work 50 times faster—without added energy.

Quickly, reliably turning wind energy into fuel means looking beyond the catalyst to its foundation, according to a recent study from the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis.

At PNNL, scientists have elaborated on a strategy to map the catalytic route. Scientists can now explore design decisions with molecular catalysts that store or release energy from the chemical bond in dihydrogen (H2).

In an invited ACS Catalysis Viewpoint paper, scientists at PNNL proposed a way to measure and report the energy efficiency of molecular electrocatalysts.