U53A:
The Critical Zone:  Revealing the Structure, Function, and Evolution of Earth’s Living Skin

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Session ID#: 13643

Session Description:
The layers of earth materials and organisms at the Earth’s surface behave as a distinct entity- the critical zone, and fundamentally differ from rock below and atmosphere above.  Although thin on a planetary scale, the critical zone is substantive for the living systems it supports, and significant in modulating the flows of water and sediment to rivers and the sea.   Dynamic interfaces at the top of the vegetation canopy, the ground surface, and at the deep transition to unweathered materials, vary spatially, and co-evolve, forming the template on which hydrologic and ecologic processes occur.  Presentations in this session will highlight advances in 1) exploration of the architecture of critical zone and the processes that shape its structure, 2) interactions between organisms and the substrates they live on, and 3) analysis of spatial and temporal variations in water, energy, and biotic activity in the critical zone.
Primary Convener:  Suzanne P Anderson, University of Colorado at Boulder, INSTAAR and Dept. of Geological Sciences, Boulder, United States
Convener:  Susan L Brantley, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Earth & Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, PA, United States
Chairs:  Susan L Brantley, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Earth & Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, PA, United States and Suzanne P Anderson, University of Colorado at Boulder, INSTAAR and Dept. of Geological Sciences, Boulder, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Suzanne P Anderson, University of Colorado at Boulder, INSTAAR and Dept. of Geological Sciences, Boulder, United States
Index Terms:

0439 Ecosystems, structure and dynamics [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
1039 Alteration and weathering processes [GEOCHEMISTRY]
1824 Geomorphology: general [HYDROLOGY]
1878 Water/energy interactions [HYDROLOGY]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

The Critical Zone: A Necessary Framework for Understanding Surface Earth Processes (Invited) (127946)
William E Dietrich, University of California Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Berkeley, United States
Critical zone architecture and processes: a geophysical perspective (Invited) (182848)
Steve Holbrook, University of Wyoming, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Laramie, WY, United States
Changing Energy Inputs at Earth’s Surface Translates to Differences in Water Availability, Weathering Rates, and Biotic Activity at Depth (Invited) (168746)
Jennifer C McIntosh, University of Arizona, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Tucson, AZ, United States, Xavier Zapata-Rios, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, Craig Rasmussen, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States, Paul D Brooks, University of Utah, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, Rachel E Gallery, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Tucson, United States, Jon D Pelletier, University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States and Jon Chorover, University of Arizona, Department of Environmental Science, Tucson, United States
Plant Rooting Depth, Soil Hydrology, and Implications to Terrestrial Environmental Change (Invited) (120603)
Ying Fan, Rutgers University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Piscataway, United States and Gonzalo Miguez-Macho, University of Santiago de Compostela, Non-Linear Physics Group, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Propagation of hydroclimatic variability through the critical zone (Invited) (123740)
Amilcare M Porporato1, Salvatore Calabrese2 and Anthony Parolari1,3, (1)Duke University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Durham, NC, United States, (2)Texas A&M University, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, College Station, United States, (3)Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, United States
Harnessing the agricultural critical zone for climate change mitigation through enhanced rock weathering with croplands (Invited) (174057)
David John Beerling1, Lyla Taylor2, Steve A. Banwart3, Euripides P. Kantzas2, Mike Kelland4, Jonathan Leake4, Mark Lomas5, Christoph Müller6, Mark Hodson7, Andy Ridgwell8 and Shaun Quegan9, (1)University of Sheffield, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation; School of Biosciences, Sheffield, S10, United Kingdom, (2)Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, School of Biosciences, Sheffield, United Kingdom, (3)University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States, (4)University of Sheffield, Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield, United Kingdom, (5)Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, Sheffield, United Kingdom, (6)Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany, (7)University of York, York, United Kingdom, (8)University of California, Department of Earth Sciences, Riverside, CA, United States, (9)University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

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