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 Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geosciences Subprogram

The BES Geosciences Subprogram at Sandia conducts basic research committed to scientific excellence and technological relevance. It has three fundamental thrusts to study a variety of dynamic processes in the earth's crust, including Geochemistry, Geophysics and Earth Dynamics, and Hydrology. The focus of Sandia's geoscience research is geophysical imaging of the subsurface and experimental rock mechanics, the geochemistry of low temperature, interfacial and bulk mineral processes, and the hydrology of fluid flow through rock fractures and porous media. Many research projects are interdisciplinary in nature, involve outside collaborations, and are complementary to Sandia's multiprogram laboratory mission.

BES Geosciences Thrust Areas

Sandia's Geochemistry research projects emphasize a mechanistic, and often atomistic understanding of interfacial and bulk mineral processes using a combination of experimental, analytical, and theoretical techniques. Projects include high precision measurements of cation self-diffusion in carbonate minerals using isotopic thin films, determination of in-situ clay precipitation and growth kinetics using atomic force microscopy or X-ray scattering techniques, quantification of environmental controls, such as temperature and organic acids, on silicate mineral dissolution kinetics, and atomistic simulations of contaminant interactions with clay surfaces. The geochemistry projects have pioneered the use of state-of-the-art empirical and ab initio molecular modeling codes to augment experimental and analytical studies of mineral structures and surface reactivity. This research provides new kinetic data and a better understanding of weathering, contaminant fate and transport, and materials science processes.

Research activities in Geohydrology are focused on detailed physical experiments and high resolution numerical modeling of fluid flow and transport in porous and fractured media. Projects involve definition of capillary, gravitational, and viscous forces controlling fracture flow and transport of two-phase fluids, understanding gas/liquid processes in soils or rocks and the media properties that govern permeability upscaling, and exploration of mass and heat transport in porous media and fractured rocks. Sandiaís hydrologic research also includes development of massively-parallel physical and numerical models to simulate field-scale, multiphase flow and transport in geologic media. Improved models for fluid flow through complex geologic media, including porous and fractured rocks, will result from these geohydrology projects.

Projects in the Geophysics and Earth Dynamics research area emphasize an understanding and interpretation of fractured and porous media using experimental rock mechanics and geophysical imaging techniques. The projects in rock mechanics use state-of-the-art experimental facilities and include a study of shear strain localization which is a precursor to faulting and macroscopic fracture of rock, and an innovative laser scanning confocal microstructural characterization of brittle failure processes in rocks and porous geomaterials due to grain boundary effects, strain, and load path. The geophysical projects are designed to improve subsurface imaging of complex geologic structures and include an appraisal of 3D inversion techniques to interpret field and synthetic seismic and electromagnetic data, development of numeric waveform inversion algorithms to accommodate 3-D heterogeneities, and development of massively parallel computational approaches and algorithms for terabyte 3-D data sets.

Importance of activities at the national level

Basic research in the Geosciences develops an improved understanding of near surface geologic processes. The mix of projects changes every two to four years in response to evolving DOE interests and geoscience research areas. Sandia's geoscience research supports many different DOE technology programs, including nuclear waste repository design, fossil energy exploration and storage, environmental remediation, global climate change, and geothermal energy exploration.

Linkages to DOE applied technology programs

In situ permeable flow sensor: EM-50 funded this instrument whose predecessor, the Convective Heat Flow Probe, was BES-supported.
Shear localization: Research is leveraged by and connected to projects funded by the ACTI and FE/Bartlesville.
Fluid flow projects: connected to OCRWM work(Yucca Mountain).
Electromagnetic imaging: closely linked to VETEM, an EM-50 project in very-early-time electromagnetic imaging.

Technology transfer contributions

The In Situ Permeable Flow Sensor (see above) has been licensed for commercialization to SIE Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas. This instrument is available for purchase.

The eleven Geoscience projects are:

  • Micromechanics of Failure in Brittle Geomaterials
  • Factors Affecting Shear Strain Localization in Rocks
  • Cation Diffusion Rates in Selected Minerals: Carbonates, Garnets, and Pyroxenes
  • Organic Anion-Mineral Surface Interactions
  • Two-phase Immiscible Fluid Flow in Fractured Rock: Physics of 2-Phase Flow Processes in Single Fractures
  • Multicomponent Convection in Porous Media and Fractures
  • Multicomponent Convection in Porous Media and Fractures
  • Resolution and Accuracy of 3-D Electromagnetic Imaging
  • Heterogeneous Nucleation and Growth Kinetics of Clays
  • Inversion of Full Waveform Seismic Data for Shallow Subsurface Properties
  • Continuum & Particle Level Modeling of Concentrated Suspension Flows
  • Atomistic Simulations of Clay Minerals and their Interactions with Hazardous Wastes: Molecular Orbital and Empirical Methods

BES/Geosciences Research Highlights

BES Project Bibliography for FY95-97

For information, contact:

Steve Binkley
Energy Research Program Manager
Sandia National Laboratories
P. O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-0725
Phone: 505-844-7466
email: jsbinkl@sandia.gov

 

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