Critical zone study in Korea: integration of hydrogeology, mineralogy, sedimentology and molecular biogeochemistry

Abstract:

Critical Zone (CZ) is the topmost layer of the Earth ranging from the vegetation canopy down to the soil, groundwater, and bedrock that sustains our ecosystem including human life. This CZ is being greatly influenced by the climate change and anthropogenic forces. We introduce the Critical Zone Frontier Research Laboratory (CFRL), a critical zone research lab recently funded by the Korean government for 2015–2020. The objective of CFRL is to unravel the relationships between climate and CZ changes to propose a prediction model for future responses of CZ to climate change. For this ultimate goal, we establish multiple CZ observatories in Kangwon areas and investigate soil, groundwater, and cave environments by integration of hydrogeology, mineralogy, sedimentology and molecular biogeochemistry. This study will enhance our understanding about CZ and local resolution of a climate change model. This research is financially supported by the Basic Research Laboratory Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.