Derluyn Lab

Research focus

ERC Starting Grant · 2019

Precipitation triggered rock dynamics: the missing mesoscopic link

Climate change leads to increasing weathering cycles on landscapes and the built environment. Promotion of alternative energy sources such as geothermal energy intensifies cyclic perturbations of the underground environment. Both lead to precipitation-dissolution cycles of salts, natural constituents of brines present inside porous rock. When precipitation occurs inside the pores, stresses build up which eventually crack the material. This might be a positive outcome, e.g., increasing the production rate of a geothermal reservoir, or on the contrary, be the cause of severe deterioration of natural building stones and coastal erosion. What is the actual trigger for the dynamic response of a…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.