Critical Zone Exploration Network

Abstract:

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/).

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