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highlights:2025:carbonates [2026/01/14 05:43] – created Ronell Sicathighlights:2025:carbonates [2026/01/14 10:20] (current) – Ronell Sicat
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 <WRAP center round box 100%> {{:favicon.ico?nolink&0x30}} <fs:26px>** KVL Staff on Project**</fs> <WRAP center round box 100%> {{:favicon.ico?nolink&0x30}} <fs:26px>** KVL Staff on Project**</fs>
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-===== Overview ===== +This project investigates the interactions of microrganisms with carbonate grains and corals-derived sediment in shallow-marine environments and how 
-A team of KAUST researchers led by postdoc Dr. Fernan Martinez and Prof. Cristian Picioreanu recently published a paper that provides new insights in the field of composite membranes research. In the article, Dr. Martinez developed a 3D solution friction model considering that the ions (Na+ and Cl-) move by a difference in concentration, pressure and electrical potential in the active layer. The results indicated that 2D active layer representation tends to overestimate salt flux. Furthermore, they evaluated the effect of the support layer on the salt permeability, and it was found that the support layer can reduce permeability by a longer transport path in the active layer. Finally, they highlighted that the effective active layer thickness (∼40 nm) was a third of the nominal thickness (∼120 nm), indicating that the values reported in the literature are overestimated. +these interactions alter rocks and sediments over time. By combining in situ field experiments with X-ray micro–computed tomography (μCT) and 
 +Backscatering electron microscopy (BS-SEM), researchers were able to track these transformations in three dimensions and through time, directly visualizing microbial microboring, micrite formation, and the development of microporosity at the grain scale. This mutidisciplinary approach helps 
 +clarify the role of microbes in controlling early alteration processes in carbonate sediment/rock and how these processes shape rock properties of 
 +carbonates. 
      
-{{:wiki:highlights:2025:membrane3d.png?1000}}+{{:wiki:highlights:2025:teillet.jpeg?1000|}} 
 +Figure from [[https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/books/edited-volume/2828/chapter/153154491/Micritized-Grains-and-Peloids-The-Taphonomic|preliminary report]] showing A,B,C: experiment sites, D: carbonate samples, E,F: thin sections of carbonates.
 \\ \\
-The paper's graphical abstract shown above illustrates the approach used in this work. The paper entitled "Impact of active layer morphology on salt permeability in RO composite membranes: 3D modelling from TEM geometry and effective membrane thickness" can be accessed [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383586625027728|here]]. Please note that all figures used in this article are directly from the original published paper. 
  
-KVL's visualization scientist Dr. Ronell Sicat supported Dr. Martinez in pre-processing the TEM scans, testing segmentation methods, and eventually post-processing the segmentation and extracted surfaces in order to get 3D geometries that were suitable for the target simulation software. KVL also provided free access to Avizo software for data visualization, segmentation, and analysis and a powerful workstation with a pen-and-tablet interface that enabled faster manual segmentation of the TEM data. KVL's contribution is acknowledged in the paper.+Preliminary results of this project were presented by the lead researcher Thomas Teillet (former KAUST postdoc) at the [[https://www.imageevent.org/|International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE) Conference]] as well as at the [[https://www.sepm.org/mountjoy-2025|Mountjoy Carbonate Conference]], both in August 2025. More information can also be found in a preliminary report in GeoScienceWorld entitled: [[https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/books/edited-volume/2828/chapter/153154491/Micritized-Grains-and-Peloids-The-Taphonomic|"Micritized Grains and Peloids: The Taphonomic Adventures of Carbonate Grains in Shallow Marine Settings"]]. 
 + 
 +KVL's visualization scientist Dr. Ronell Sicat supported Dr. Teillet in processing the μCT data using Avizo software, including preprocessing, alignment, segmentation, and analysis, in order to quantify changes in the rock samples over time (see below image).  A full paper is currently underway with a more detailed analysis of the microbial interactions with the rock samples. 
 + 
 +{{:wiki:highlights:2025:carbonates.png?1000|}} 
 +Example Avizo segmentation and analysis results for one of the rock samples. 
 +\\
  
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