Joris Dijkstra

Research areas

Joris Dijkstra’s research is primarily directed towards the relationship between human activities in and on the subsurface and the quality of soil and groundwater, for example in relation to the energy transition and circularity. This research is important to maintain a proper balance between the variety of functions that the subsurface provides and the preservation of the quality of soil and of groundwater resources (“groundwater stewardship”). Within this working field, he has built up extensive expertise on the geochemistry of industrial waste materials and the interaction that these materials have with the natural environment, for example through the leaching of contaminants towards soil and groundwater. Examples include metallurgical slags, incineration ashes and contaminated dredged sediment. Currently he is also involved in bringing together the fields of geological mapping and environmental geochemistry, by developing a systematic classification for anthropogenic deposits to enable their inclusion in 3D geological models of the subsurface.

Important publications

• Gerardu, T., Dijkstra, J.J., Beeltje, H., Renesse, A. Van, Duivenbode, V., Griffioen, J., 2023. Accumulation and transport of atmospherically deposited PFOA and PFOS in undisturbed soils downwind from a fluoropolymers factory. Environmental Advances 11, 100332.
  
  

• Dijkstra, J.J., Comans, R.N.J., Schokker, J., Van der Meulen, M.J., 2019. The geological significance of novel anthropogenic materials : Deposits of industrial waste and by-products. Anthropocene 28,

  The three most cited publications:
  
  

• Dijkstra, J.J., Meeussen, J.C.L., Comans, R.N.J., 2004. Leaching of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Soils:  An Experimental and Modeling Study. Environmental Science and Technology 38, 4390–4395.
  
  

• Dijkstra, J.J., van der Sloot, H.A., Comans, R.N.J., 2006. The leaching of major and trace elements from MSWI bottom ash as a function of pH and time. Applied Geochemistry 21, 335–351.
  
  

• Astrup, T.F., Dijkstra, J.J., Comans, R.N.J., van der Sloot, H.A., Christensen, T.H., 2006. Geochemical modeling of leaching from MSWI-airpollution-control residues. Environmental Science and Technology 40, 3551–3557.