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Session Proposal: Bedrock Breakdown: The Role of Weathering in the Evolution and Function of the Critical Zone (AGU25)

EP004
Bedrock Breakdown: The Role of Weathering in the Evolution and Function of the Critical Zone

Session ID#: 249030

Session Description:
The breakdown of bedrock through chemical and physical weathering processes creates fractures and pores that influence water movement and storage within hillslopes, making it vital to many hydrologic and ecological processes. Weathering also affects rock strength and hillslope sediment grain-size, which affect rates of erosion, sediment transport, and landscape evolution. In the spirit of AGU25’s theme, “Where Science Connects Us,” we seek contributions that utilize observational, experimental, and modeling techniques to quantify the fundamental controls on critical zone (CZ) weathering and the consequences of weathering for the geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecological systems that support life on Earth’s surface. Because CZ science is transdisciplinary, contributions will span diverse scales and methods, from mineral-scale measurements of fracturing and chemical alteration, to hillslope-scale geophysical measurements of CZ structure, to modeling and remote sensing of landscape-scale CZ processes. We especially encourage contributions that span disciplines and lead to a transformative understanding of CZ processes.
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • H - Hydrology
  • NS - Near Surface Geophysics
Index Terms:

1402 - Critical Zone [CRITICAL ZONE]
1826 Geomorphology: hillslope [HYDROLOGY]
1829 Groundwater hydrology [HYDROLOGY]
1886 Weathering [HYDROLOGY]
Primary Convener:  Nancy Weinheimer, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States
Conveners:  David Litwin, Temple University, Earth and Environmental Science, Philadelphia, United States and Russell Callahan, University of Connecticut, Department of Earth Sciences, Storrs, United States
 
Combining geomorphic theory with global geochemical data to model the extent of soil weathering (Invited) (1862433)
Brooke Hunter, Appalachian State University, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Boone, NC, United States, Leila Maria Wahab, Yale University, New Haven, United States and Eric Slessarev, Yale University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, New Haven, United States
 
Fluxes and Weathering Depth of Rock-Derived Nitrogen Are Linked to Precipitation and Denudation Rates at Northwestern California Sites in Schist Bedrock (1865291)
Iris Holzer, University of California, Santa Barbara, Environmental Studies Program, Santa Barbara, United States and Benjamin Z Houlton, Cornell University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Department of Global Development, Ithaca, United States
 
Analytical and Numerical Solutions for Reactive Transport in Finite-Width and Multi-Fracture-Matrix Systems (1866348)
Shengbang Zhong, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, Ciaran J Harman, Johns Hopkins University, Environmental Health and Engineering, Baltimore, MD, United States and Harihar Rajaram, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States
 
Hillslope grain size variation across evolving landscapes linked to climate, tectonics and lithology (1884613)
Tingan Li, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, Leonard Sklar, San Francisco State University, Earth & Climate Sciences, San Francisco, United States and Nicole M. Gasparini, Tulane University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Orleans, United States
 
From Weathering to Relief: How the Critical Zone Modulates Sediment Size and Fluvial Relief in the Tropics (Invited) (1894305)
Sean F Gallen1, Abigail Axness1, Ana Pérez1, Kate Drobnich1, Estefanía Vicens Clavell2 and K. Stephen Hughes2, (1)Colorado State University, Department of Geosciences, Fort Collins, United States, (2)University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Department of Geology, Mayaguez, United States
 
Mineralogical and Chemical Patterns in Volcanic Soils Across Elevation Gradients in Costa Rica (1919996)
Cassandra Montano Arellano1, Chia-Wei Lin2, Youjun Deng2, Camilo Sanchez2, Wasek Foysal2, James K Brumbelow3 and A. Peyton Smith4, (1)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (2)Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, United States, (3)Texas A&M University College Station, Civil & Environmental Engineering, College Station, United States, (4)Texas A&M University College Station, Soil and Crop Science, College Station, TX, United States
 
Mass Gains and High Volumetric Strain During Subsurface Weathering Inferred from Bulk Geochemical and Geophysical Measurements of Saprolite and Unweathered Rock (1926125)
Kate Wilcox, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, United States, Jorden L Hayes, Co-Author, Department of Earth Sciences, Laramie, United States, Bradley Carr, University of Wyoming, Geology and Geophysics, Laramie, United States, Clifford S Riebe, University of Wyoming, Laramie, United States, Steve Holbrook, Virginia Tech, Dept. of Geosciences, Blacksburg, United States and Brady Flinchum, University of Newcastle, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Callaghan, Australia
 
Quantifying the Influence of Tree Throw and Bedrock Geology on Soil Rockiness (1958428)
Emily Throop, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States, Douglas A Edmonds, Indiana University Bloomington, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Bloomington, IN, United States, Brian J Yanites, Indiana University Bloomington, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Bloomington, United States and Tyler Doane, PhD, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States
 
Modeling the subsurface critical zone: theoretical steady-state thickness and strength depth profiles of weathered bedrock in mountainous watersheds (1963088)
Yuki Matsushi, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
 
Revisiting Soil Architecture in Deeply Weathered Soils Through the Effect of Pseudosands on Soil Hydrology (1967739)
Simone Kilian1, Katharina H. E. Meurer2, Alberto Andrino3, Joseph Tamale4, Balwant Singh5, Elisa Diaz Garcia3, Georg Guggenberger6, Diana Boy7 and Hermann F. Jungkunst8, (1)RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Landau (Pfalz), Germany, (2)SLU Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden, (3)Leibniz University of Hannover, Institute of Earth System Sciences, Section Soil Science, Hannover, Germany, (4)Universität Hamburg, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Soil Science, Hamburg, Germany, (5)University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, Australia, (6)Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Earth System Sciences, Hannover, Germany, (7)Leibniz University of Hannover, Institute of Microbiology, Hannover, Germany, (8)RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Landau, Germany
 
Geologic Nitrogen Inputs to Semi-Arid Soils with and without Mammalian Bioturbation (1967819)
Rebecca Martinez1, Riley Howard1, Heath Goertzen2, Nina Bingham3 and Iris Holzer1, (1)University of California, Santa Barbara, Environmental Studies Program, Santa Barbara, United States, (2)University of California, Davis, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, Davis, United States, (3)University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Geography, Santa Barbara, United States
 
Variable hydrogeochemical fluxes drive early-stage pedogenesis on model basaltic hillslopes (1972339)
Charlie Cunningham1, Robert Root2, Andrew Guertin3, Hannes H Bauser4, Tiantian Zhou1, Louis A Derry5,6, Jennifer L Druhan3,5, Peter A Troch7 and Jon Chorover1, (1)University of Arizona, Tucson, United States, (2)University of Arizona, Environmental Science, Tucson, United States, (3)University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States, (4)University of Nevada Las Vegas, Geoscience, Las Vegas, United States, (5)Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France, (6)Cornell University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Ithaca, United States, (7)University of Arizona, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Tucson, United States
 
Critical zone structure and evolution across a topographic gradient of the Nepal Himalaya: insights from multiscale observations (1976813)
Chan-Mao Chen1, Parker Blunts2, Dimitrios Zekkos3, David A Okaya4, Sally Keating5, Marin Kristen Clark5, Deepak Chamlagain6, Michael Bickle7, Edward Tipper7, Aaron Celestian8, Abra Atwood9, Anurag Bhattarai6, Sujata Bista6, Suman Timalsina10, Anuj Siwakoti6, Nismata Sidgel11, Priyanka Dhami12 and A. Joshua West1, (1)University of Southern California, Department of Earth Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (2)Univerrsity of California, Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, United States, (3)University of California, Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, United States, (4)University of Southern California, Department of Earth Sciences, Los Angeles, United States, (5)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (6)Tribhuvan University, Department of Geology, Kathmandu, Nepal, (7)University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, (8)Los Angeles Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, United States, (9)University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (10)Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, (11)University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States, (12)Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Kathmandu, Nepal
 
Disentangling Climatic and Topographic Controls on Weathering Using Geochemistry In the Eastern Sierra Nevada (1979506)
Seth Gilchrist, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, United States and Claire E Lukens, University of California Merced, Life and Environmental Sciences, Merced, United States
 
Observations of thick weathered soils on rapidly eroding, steep granitic ridgelines in the Eastern Central Range, Taiwan (1987634)
Sarah Jonathan, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States and Roman A DiBiase, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Department of Geosciences, University Park, United States
 
Rates and Controls of Micro-Scale Mechanical Weathering by Progressive Rock Failure in Antarctic Rocks (1988789)
Maxwell Philip Dahlquist, Sewanee The University of the South, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Systems, Sewanee, TN, United States, Martha Cary Eppes, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, United States, Jennifer L Lamp, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States, Kate M Swanger, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, United States, Monica Rasmussen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States; IAPS-INAF, Rome, Italy and Brian Gulick, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, United States
 
Investigating the Relationship Between Chemical Weathering and Physico-Mechanical Properties of Himalayan Metamorphic Rock (2003907)
Parker Blunts1, Chan-Mao Chen2, Sally Keating3, Dimitrios Zekkos1, A. Joshua West2, Marin Kristen Clark3, Deepak Chamlagain4, Anurag Bhattarai4, Anuj Siwakoti4, Sujata Bista4, Priyanka Dhami5, Irada Dhakal4, Nismata Sidgel6 and Suman Timalsina7, (1)University of California, Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, United States, (2)University of Southern California, Department of Earth Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (3)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (4)Tribhuvan University, Department of Geology, Kathmandu, Nepal, (5)Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Kathmandu, Nepal, (6)University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States, (7)Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
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