Research Projects
Respiration in weathered bedrock and it’s contribution to critical zone structure.
In many hillslopes throughout the world, the unsaturated zone and rooting zone extend far beneath the soil in weathered and fractured rock. Yet, there are very few estimates of the amount of carbon dioxide that is respired in this environment, how it directly influences critical zone structure, and how significant it is compared to other carbon fluxes in upland ecosystems. With Jennifer Druhan, Daniella Rempe, Philip Bennett, and Jia Wang, I have investigated this at the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory.
Related publications:
- Carbon Dioxide Production in Bedrock beneath Soils Substantially Contributes to Forest Carbon Cycling, JGR Biogeosciences
- Stay tuned
Related data:
- Hydroshare: Carbon Dioxide Production In Bedrock, CO2 and O2 concentrations, soil CO2 efflux, water content, and temperature data over 1.5 years at the ERCZO
Weathering of rock organic carbon in hillslopes.
Petrogenic organic carbon, or carbon that was lithified in sedimentary rocks, is available for oxidation and weathering in the critical zone. However, the carbon balance between petrogenic organic carbon oxidation, silicate weathering, and sulfuric acid driven carbonate weathering in ecosystems underlain by sedimentary rocks is an ongoing area of research as these rates are difficult to constrain in the subsurface. To complicate things, changing preciptation, erosion rates, subsurface water conditions, and vegetation may alter the carbon balance between different weathering processes. With Jennifer Druhan, Corey Lawrence, Daniella Rempe, and Yuchen Liu I have investigated this at the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory.
Related publications:
- Deep root activity overprints weathering of petrogenic organic carbon in shale, Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Related data:
- Hydroshare: Dataset for “Deep root activity overprints weathering of petrogenic organic carbon in shale”
- Github repository: Code supporting the analysis of the hydroshare data for Tune et al. 2023
The importance of water stored in bedrock for biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone.
Recent studies have shown that water stored within unsaturated bedrock is an important store of moisture that sustains vegetation when soil moisture is depleted. Our research, led by Erica McCormick, shows that the use of water stored in bedrock by vegetation is prevalent throughout the continental U.S.
Related publications:
- Evidence for widespread woody plant use of bedrock water
Related data:
- Github respository: Code for “Evidence for widespread woody plant use of bedrock water”
- Hydroshare: Dataset for “Evidence for widespread woody plant use of water stored in bedrock”
Trace gases as ecological currency in the critical zone.
Related publications:
- stay tuned
Related data:
- stay tuned
Research Locations
Links to research-related websites:
- My google scholar; a list of presentation and publications in one spot
- Rempe Research Group; the research lab I am affliated with
- Eel River Critical Zone Observatory (ERCZO); The organization and location in Northern California where the majority of my research takes place
Collaborator’s pages
- Jennifer L. Druhan
- Corey R. Lawrence
- Jon Golla
- Kelsey Crutchfield-Peters
- Jia Wang
- Yuchen Liu
- Logan Schmidt
- Erica McCormick
- Jesse Hahm
- David Dralle
- Dana Chadwick
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