The nanoscale control of reactive fluids on geological processes within the solid Earth

Project Information

nanoEARTH

Grant agreement ID: 852069

DOI

10.3030/852069

Project terminated on 1 April 2025

EC signature date 16 October 2019

Start date 1 December 2019

End date 31 May 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 572 500,00

EU contribution

€ 1 572 500,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - nanoEARTH (The nanoscale control of reactive fluids on geological processes within the solid Earth)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Deep beneath our feet, water reacts with rocks, slowly changing the Earth’s interior. These reactions influence the stability of mountains, the formation of valuable mineral deposits, and the safe storage of carbon underground. The nanoEARTH project has revealed that these processes are not only driven by large cracks and faults, as previously thought, but also by networks of tiny pores thousands of times smaller than a human hair — so small they can only be seen with powerful microscopes.

Using a combination of advanced imaging, computer simulations, and artificial intelligence, we discovered that fluids behave very differently when confined in these nanopores. Their ability to dissolve minerals changes, chemical reactions proceed at different rates, and entirely new pathways for fluid flow are created as rocks react and crack from the inside.

We also developed new machine learning techniques to create 3D models of rock structures from 2D images, allowing us to digitally explore how these tiny pores evolve over time. By combining laboratory experiments with computer models, nanoEARTH has provided new insights into how fluids move and react inside the Earth, with applications for managing natural resources, storing carbon, and understanding natural hazards.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Throughout the project, nanoEARTH explored how tiny spaces inside rocks — thousands of times smaller than a human hair — control the movement of fluids and the chemical reactions deep within the Earth. These processes affect everything from mountain stability to mineral resource formation and climate-relevant carbon storage.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team made important progress by using rock samples from global collections and applying advanced imaging techniques such as high-resolution electron microscopes and X-ray tomography. These allowed us to visualise the complex, interconnected network of tiny pores hidden inside rocks. We discovered that such nanoporosity exists in many rocks previously thought to be nearly impermeable.

A major breakthrough came from developing powerful computer models, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, that could reconstruct 3D images of rock structures from simple 2D images. This enabled us to create highly detailed digital versions of real rocks, which can be used to simulate how fluids move underground. These methods have now been published and made freely available to other researchers worldwide.

In parallel, we used molecular simulations to investigate how fluids behave when confined inside these tiny rock pores. We found that fluids act very differently at this scale, dissolving minerals less effectively and reacting more slowly than previously thought. Surprisingly, adding salt — as is common in natural fluids — had little effect on this unusual behaviour. These insights are helping to improve models that predict how rocks react with fluids in the deep Earth.

We also performed advanced real-time experiments using a synchrotron X-ray beam to watch how new pores form while minerals react with fluids. These experiments showed that rocks can crack and create new fluid pathways as reactions proceed — effectively helping fluids to keep moving deeper into the rock.

The project has resulted in numerous scientific publications, two PhD theses, and widespread sharing of our methods and data with the global scientific community. The knowledge developed in nanoEARTH will have lasting impacts, helping us to better predict natural hazards, manage underground resources, and design strategies for long-term carbon storage.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The nanoEARTH project has made major discoveries about how fluids move and react inside rocks deep below the Earth’s surface — even in rocks that were previously thought to be nearly impermeable.

We developed advanced imaging techniques, combining high-powered electron microscopes, X-rays, and neutron scattering, to visualise the networks of tiny pores inside rocks across a huge range of scales, from nanometres to millimetres. These pores, often invisible before, were shown to form interconnected networks that allow fluids to move and react inside the rock.

Our team also developed artificial intelligence (AI) methods to build detailed 3D digital models of rock structures based on simple 2D images. This new technique allows researchers to create highly realistic virtual rocks, which can be used to simulate how fluids move underground — an important tool for understanding resource formation and environmental processes.

Using real-time experiments with powerful X-ray beams, we observed how new pores form as minerals react with fluids. We discovered that these reactions can generate very high internal stresses, cracking the rocks from within and opening up new pathways for fluids — helping reactions to continue and fluids to penetrate further into the Earth.

We also used computer simulations at the molecular level to show that fluids behave very differently when confined in tiny spaces. Their ability to dissolve minerals changes, the chemical reactions slow down, and the chemistry of the fluids themselves shifts — in ways that are not predicted by traditional models.

Finally, we combined these experimental and simulation results into new models that connect the smallest scales — individual water molecules — to the large-scale movement of fluids through rocks. These findings are already being used to improve models for carbon storage, mineral extraction, and subsurface energy technologies.

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