Specialty
Subsurface hydrodynamics in porous media, role of groundwater flow in heat transport, interactions between groundwater flow and rock deformation
Research Interests
I am a hydrogeologist. My research involves studying groundwater in the Earth鈥檚 crust with a focus on understanding how groundwater flow interacts with and is affected by other geologic processes and how theses interactions advance science and offer insights on societally relevant issues. One research focus is the mechanical interaction between groundwater and rock deformation, which was motivated by an apparent spatial association between some mountain belts and ore deposits in foreland basins adjacent to those mountain belts. Episodic orogenic deformation could drive mineral-bearing groundwater flow to concentrate ore deposits and enable secondary petroleum migration. A new thrust in groundwater-rock deformation research is to seek causal mechanisms for induced seismicity beneath dammed reservoirs and around deep wastewater disposal wells. Another area of research is to study the impact of climate change on groundwater resources, focusing on high-altitude regions where variations in temperature and precipitation are expected. Relying on the fundamental theory of energy and fluid transport in porous media, this research looks into snowmelt infiltrating through seasonally frozen ground and permafrost into deeper subsurface and discharging back to surface waters downstream.