Achievement

Especially in the last 15 years, Earth scientists have been exploring the role of nano-sized materials in a number of environment-related processes, including the transport and transformation of organic and inorganic contaminants. Trainee Carol Johnson chose to study a highly dynamic environmental system (Ronneburg Mining District, Germany) where groundwater outflow from a former uranium mine is negatively impacting the downstream environment. From June to October of 2011, water and sediment was carefully collected at four sites along portions of the flow path of interest. In the groundwater outflow, suspended nanometer-thin ferrous sulfate pseudo-hexagonal platelets (containing small amounts of zinc) were discovered. As these ferrous sulfate particles in the outflow become unstable, they are an important source of zinc. This discovery explains the high concentration of zinc downstream.