%0 Journal Article
%J EOS
%D 2004
%T Proposed initiative would study Earth's weathering engine
%A Anderson, Suzanne
%A Blum, Joel
%A Brantley, Susan
%A Chadwick, Oliver
%A Chorover, Jon
%A Derry, Louis
%A Drever, James
%A Hering, Janet
%A Kirchner, James
%A Kump, Lee
%A Richter, Daniel
%A White, Art
%N 28
%P 265-272
%V 85
%X At the Earth’s surface, a complex suite of  chemical, biological, and physical processes  combines to create the engine that transforms  bedrock into soil (Figure 1).Earth’s weathering  engine provides nutrients to nourish ecosystems  and human society,mediates the transport of  toxic components within the biosphere,creates  water flow paths that carve and weaken bedrock,  and contributes to the evolution of landscapes  at all temporal and spatial scales.At the  longest time scales, the weathering engine  sequesters CO2, thereby influencing long-term  climate change.  Despite the importance of soil, our knowledge  of the rate of soil formation is limited  because the weathering zone forms a complex,  ever-changing interface,and because scientific  approaches and funding paradigms have not  promoted integrated research agendas to  investigate such complex interactions.No  national initiative has promoted a systems  approach to investigation of weathering  science across the broad array of geology,  soil science, ecology, and hydrology. Such a  program is certainly needed, and this article  describes a platform on which to build the  initiative to answer the following question:How  does the Earth weathering engine break down  rock to nourish ecosystems, carve errestrial  landscapes, and control carbon dioxide in the  global atmosphere?  Only with such an effort will it be possible  to predict how weathering rates in the “Critical  Zone”[National Research Council Committee  on Basic Research Opportunities in the Earth  Sciences, 2001] (Figure 2) respond to climatic,  tectonic, and anthropogenic forcings over all  temporal and spatial scales. Such an initiative  is proposed, described at present as the Weathering  System Science Consortium (WSSC).Input  for its future development is sought from the  geosciences community (http://www.wssc.  psu.edu/).
%8 07/2004