Deep tree roots at risk of accelerating groundwater pollution beneath clay-rich aquitards
Peter R. Jørgensen, Klaus Mosthaf, Paul Henning Krogh, Anders J. Hansen, Ida B. Nielsen, Frederik Seersholm, Natascha D. Wagner, Jesper Olsen, Jiayi Qin, Luca Modesti, Jens Aamand, Una Pétursdóttir, Rasmus Thalund-Hansen, Carsten T. Petersen, Bjarne W. Strobel, Marine Lacoste, Massimo Rolle · 2026
Read Deep tree roots at risk of accelerating groundwater pollution beneath clay-rich aquitards by Peter R. Jørgensen, Klaus Mosthaf, Paul Henning Krogh, Anders J. Hansen, Ida B. Nielsen, Frederik Seersholm, Natascha D. Wagner, Jesper Olsen, Jiayi Qin, Luca Modesti, Jens Aamand, Una Pétursdóttir, Rasmus Thalund-Hansen, Carsten T. Petersen, Bjarne W. Strobel, Marine Lacoste, Massimo Rolle (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13389061.txt.
Description
Peter R. Jørgensen's team warn that deep tree roots can punch through clay-rich glacial aquitards that shield Denmark's drinking-water aquifers, using ancient DNA plus detailed hydrology to trace the pathways. These clay layers were thought safe unless cut by widespread deep fractures, an idea formed before modern tracing tools existed.
Fractures deeper than two metres proved closed or marginal for dissolved pollutants unless they carried flow channels from modern or ancient roots. They open fractures and create deep pores, so the authors urge focus to land-use history and legacy pollution before planting trees over thin or variable aquitards above water supplies.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Peter R. Jørgensen, Klaus Mosthaf, Paul Henning Krogh, Anders J. Hansen, Ida B. Nielsen, Frederik Seersholm, Natascha D. Wagner, Jesper Olsen, Jiayi Qin, Luca Modesti, Jens Aamand, Una Pétursdóttir, Rasmus Thalund-Hansen, Carsten T. Petersen, Bjarne W. Strobel, Marine Lacoste, Massimo Rolle |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 93 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |