As part of the Susquehanna-Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory, Penn State researchers are collaborating with colleagues at Colgate University, Juniata College, Washington and Lee University, University of Tennessee, Alabama A&M University, and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. One goal of this effort is to hold parent material lithology and geochemistry constant, developing a climosequence of Critical Zone field sites on the same formation: the focus of this effort is primarily on the Fe-rich and organic-poor Silurian Rose Hill Formation and coeval strata outcropping in the Appalachian Mountains. Sites in central PA and eastern TN on other Paleozoic metal and organic rich shales will complement this effort and allow us to contrast soil development on the Rose Hill Formation to soils on shales with different compositions. Our Puerto Rico study site focuses on soil formation on shales in a tropical weathering regime. An equally important facet of this collaboration includes a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) during the summers of 2010 through 2012.
Continent: North America
