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The functions of soils are intimately linked to their three‐dimensional pore space and the associated biogeochemical interfaces, mirrored in the complex structure that developed during pedogenesis. Under stress overload, soil disintegrates into smaller compound structures, conventionally named aggregates. Microaggregates (<250 µm) are recognized as the most stable soil structural units. They are built of mineral, organic, and biotic materials, provide habitats for a vast diversity of microorganisms, and are closely involved in the cycling of matter and energy. However, exploring the architecture of soil microaggregates and their linkage to soil functions remains a challenging but demanding scientific endeavor. With the advent of complementary spectromicroscopic and tomographic techniques, we can now assess and visualize the size, composition, and porosity of microaggregates and the spatial arrangement of their interior building units. Their combinations with advanced experimental pedology, multi‐isotope labeling experiments, and computational approaches pave the way to investigate microaggregate turnover and stability, explore their role in element cycling, and unravel the intricate linkage between structure and function. However, spectromicroscopic techniques operate at different scales and resolutions, and have specific requirements for sample preparation and microaggregate isolation; hence, special attention must be paid to both the separation of microaggregates in a reproducible manner and the synopsis of the geography of information that originates from the diverse complementary instrumental techniques. The latter calls for further development of strategies for synlocation and synscaling beyond the present state of correlative analysis. Here, we present examples of recent scientific progress and review both options and challenges of the joint application of cutting‐edge techniques to achieve a sophisticated picture of the properties and functions of soil microaggregates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-scale models pose a promising approach in simulating reactive flow and transport in evolving porous media. Classically, homogenised flow and transport equations are solved on the macroscopic scale, while effective parameters are obtained from auxiliary cell problems on possibly evolving reference geometries (micro-scale). Despite their perspective success in rendering lab/field-scale simulations computationally feasible, analytic results regarding the arising two-scale bilaterally coupled system often restrict to simplified models. In this paper, we first derive smooth dependence results concerning the partial coupling from the underlying geometry to macroscopic quantities. Therefore, alterations of the representative fluid domain are described by smooth paths of diffeomorphisms. Exploiting the gained regularity of the effective space- and time-dependent macroscopic coefficients, we present local-in-time existence results for strong solutions to the partially coupled micro-macro system using fixed-point arguments. What is more, we extend our results to the bilaterally coupled diffusive transport model including a level-set description of the evolving geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive flow and transport in porous media is topic of intense research since decades. Since dispersion is one of the key parameters in solute transport, its accurate modeling is essential to avoid wrong predictions of flow and transport behavior. In this research, we investigate novel effective dispersion models for reactive transport of electrically charged chemical species in a thin, potentially evolving strip taking into account Taylor–Aris and electroosmotic‐induced dispersion as well as their cross‐coupling effects. We prove positivity of the dispersion coefficient and the existence and uniqueness of strong solutions in the fixed geometry setting. Moreover, we numerically investigate scenarios for both the fixed and evolving geometry situation. The simulation results illustrate the possibility of separating charged species, such that the findings of this study can lead to a better understanding of mixing and separation processes of charged solutes and an improved prediction of breakthrough curves. Finally, we study the limits of vanishing channel width, precipitation layer thickness, and molecular diffusion. We show convergence of the solutions to the corresponding limit cases such as a hyperbolic model or the fixed geometry case. From these results, we can rate the impact of distinct dispersion mechanisms and evaluate the necessity of a detailed modeling for different parameter regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a mathematical model for the full drying process of a single protein formulation droplet taking into account the convective impact arising from its levitation by a standing ultrasound wave. Using the finite element method allows us to compute the evaporation rate directly from the fully resolved heat and mass transfer within and around the levitated droplet. We apply our model to simulate the drying kinetics of pure water and aqueous phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) droplets under various levitation and drying conditions. Empirical data from the literature are used to validate and discuss our numerical results. The acoustic streaming turns out to accelerate not only the first but also the second drying stage. Moreover, the dehydration of the protein molecules is found to be primarily responsible for their enzymatic inactivation throughout the drying process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural changes of the pore space and clogging phenomena are inherent to many porous media applications. However, related analytical investigations remain challenging due to potentially vanishing coefficients in the respective systems of partial differential equations. In this research, we apply an appropriate scaling of the unknowns and work with porosity-weighted function spaces. This enables us to prove existence, uniqueness and non-negativity of weak solutions to a combined flow and transport problem with vanishing, but prescribed porosity field, permeability and diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: All soils harbor microaggregates, i.e., compound soil structures smaller than 250 µm. These microaggregates are composed of diverse mineral, organic and biotic materials that are bound together during pedogenesis by various physical, chemical and biological processes. Consequently, microaggregates can withstand strong mechanical and physicochemical stresses and survive slaking in water, allowing them to persist in soils for several decades. Together with the physiochemical heterogeneity of their surfaces, the three‐dimensional structure of microaggregates provides a large variety of ecological niches that contribute to the vast biological diversity found in soils. As reported for larger aggregate units, microaggregates are composed of smaller building units that become more complex with increasing size. In this context, organo‐mineral associations can be considered structural units of soil aggregates and as nanoparticulate fractions of the microaggregates themselves. The mineral phases considered to be the most important as microaggregate forming materials are the clay minerals and Fe‐ and Al‐(hydr)oxides. Within microaggregates, minerals are bound together primarily by physicochemical and chemical interactions involving cementing and gluing agents. The former comprise, among others, carbonates and the short‐range ordered phases of Fe, Mn, and Al. The latter comprise organic materials of diverse origin and probably involve macromolecules and macromolecular mixtures. Work on microaggregate structure and development has largely focused on organic matter stability and turnover. However, little is known concerning the role microaggregates play in the fate of elements like Si, Fe, Al, P, and S. More recently, the role of microaggregates in the formation of microhabitats and the biogeography and diversity of microbial communities has been investigated. Little is known regarding how microaggregates and their properties change in time, which strongly limits our understanding of micro‐scale soil structure dynamics. Similarly, only limited information is available on the mechanical stability of microaggregates, while essentially nothing is known about the flow and transport of fluids and solutes within the micro‐ and nanoporous microaggregate systems. Any quantitative approaches being developed for the modeling of formation, structure and properties of microaggregates are, therefore, in their infancy. We respond to the growing awareness of the importance of microaggregates for the structure, properties and functions of soils by reviewing what is currently known about the formation, composition and turnover of microaggregates. We aim to provide a better understanding of their role in soil function, and to present the major unknowns in current microaggregate research. We propose a harmonized concept for aggregates in soils that explicitly considers the structure and build‐up of microaggregates and the role of organo‐mineral associations. We call for experiments, studies and modeling endeavors that will link information on aggregate forming materials with their functional properties across a range of scales in order to better understand microaggregate formation and turnover. Finally, we hope to inspire a novel cohort of soil scientists that they might focus their research on improving our understanding of the role of microaggregates within the system of aggregates and so help to develop a unified and quantitative concept of aggregation processes in soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]