Hydrosystems

2007-2014 research work

The main objectives of this research are the hydrologic and bio-physicochemical characterisation and modelling of the environment, in order to eventually develop reliable predictive transfer models for continental ecosystems and hydrosystems.

Developing such models requires careful consideration and therefore appropriate characterisation of the main vector – water - and of the various processes controlling the availability and the mobility of chemical elements in water and soils, including the biological component : speciation of main elements (actinides, lanthanides rare-earth elements,...)  and organic and inorganic complexing agents (carbonates, phosphates, humates,...) in solution and on  mineral-water interfaces, in water-rock interactions, the relation between organic and mineral matter ...

Proper description of these parameters requires the development of new methodological and metrological concepts (measurements, analyses)

More specifically, this involves developing new conceptual models of chemical interactions between elements, such as soil and water, their insertion in predictive geochemical models of water and rock interactions, and upstream collection of reliable thermodynamic and kinetic data (experiments, spectroscopy) for the study of natural systems.

These models help to understand the impact of the human activity on the environment ranging from the transfers of water and soil pollutants to forecast of future climatic variations effects on hydrosystems and ecosystems.

This section brings together specialists in hydrological and geochemical modelling, in geophysics, in chemistry of the elements in solution and in mineral-solution interfaces, in the analysis of chemical elements and their suitability as markers of natural processes, in microbiology, in environmental biology and in ecology.

This group of scientific and analytical experts is well-integrated in the national and cross-border programs and is largely open to environmental issues concerning the region.

The different scientific teams involved in the Hydrosystem section