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Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone Book Volume

Abstract Deadline Extended: June 30th

As part of the Advances in Critical Zone Science Book Series (Edited by Steve Banwart, published by Springer-Nature) we are pleased to announce the development of the volume “Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone”. We seek submissions that focus on how biogeochemical processes vary across the critical zone (CZ) as an integrated system, and how these processes are better informed by an improved understanding of CZ hydrology, geomorphology and ecology. Please see the attached PDF for more information or contact Adam Wymore (adam.wymore@unh.edu) for more information.

Objective of Book Volume: Biogeochemical processes are at the heart of energy, nutrient and lithogenic element fluxes in the critical zone. They control the quantity and quality of carbon and nutrients available for living organisms, the retention and export of nutrients or toxic elements affecting soil fertility and water quality, and the capacity of the critical zone to sequester carbon. As the term implies, biogeochemical cycles, and the rates at which they occur, result from the interaction of biological, chemical and physical processes. However, finding a unifying framework by which to study these interactions is challenging, and the different components of bio-geo-chemistry are often studied in isolation (Chorover et al. 2007). The Earth’s critical zone (CZ) is defined as that portion of the Earth’s near surface extending from the bedrock weathering front and lowest extent of freely circulating groundwater up through the regolith and to the top of the vegetative canopy. The structure and function of the CZ is shaped through tectonic, lithologic, hydrologic, climatic and biological processes and is the result of processes occurring at multiple time scales from eons to seconds. The CZ is an open system in which energy and matter is both transported and transformed (Rasmussen et al. 2011). Critical zone science, which deliberately integrates biology, geology and hydrology toward the goal of better understanding coupled processes in this near-surface region, provides a novel and unifying framework to consider biogeochemical cycles and fluxes of energy and matter that are essential to sustaining a habitable planet.

Themes and Organzing Topics:

Mass and Energy Fluxes through the Critical Zone

Biological Weathering Processes

Weathering Processes across Space and Time

Bio-inorganic Interfaces in the Critical Zone

Microbial Ecology of the Critical Zone

Retention and export of organic matter and nutrients

Hydrology and Biogeochemical Cycles

Global Carbon Cycling and Carbon Sequestration

Critical Zone Management