Variation in Critical Zone Processes and Architecture across Slope Aspects

Anderson, Suzanne P.; Hinckley, Eve‐Lyn S.; Kelly, Patrick J.; Langston, Abigail L.

doi:10.1016/j.proeps.2014.08.006

Cited by 23 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…et al, 2007;Brantley et al, 2007;Parsekian et al, 2015;Riebe et al, 2016]in a process termed weathering. Because the CZ is the connection between the subsurface and surface it plays a role in a wide variety of biological [Moulton and Berner, 1998;Amundson et al, 2007;Gabet and Mudd, 2010;Roering et al, 2010], hydrologic [Dunne, 1998;Hinckley et al, 2014;Langston et al, 2015], and climatic [Millot et al, 2002;Riebe et al, 2004a] processes. Understanding the CZ though is inherently difficult because its scale and heterogeneity often means direct sampling methods, e.g.…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However within a single catchment and between aspects, microclimate can vary, causing catchment scale variations in water availability [Anderson et al, 2014]. The upper portion of the CZ is an unsaturated or vadose zone environment which, due to the non-linear hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated flow and evapotranspiration, makes deep water propagation difficult to characterize.…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As discussed earlier, micro-climactic properties play a large role in the rate of weathering and there properties vary with elevation and aspect. Johnston Draw is an east-west trending catchment, thus north and south facing slopes host very different microclimates, with the northerly aspect hosting denser vegetation and greater snow accumulation than the southerly aspect [Anderson et al, 2014]. Further, the drainage of the catchment spans 300m in elevation so the micro-climates on both slopes vary from outlet to headwater with generally greater snow accumulation and vegetation density at higher elevations.…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This creates a basic critical zone pattern for a geomorphic region that is then acted on by other processes [Riebe et al, 2016] such as climate [Millot et al, 2002;Riebe et al, 2004b], altitude [Riebe et al, 2004c], hydrology [Dunne, 1998;Lebedeva and Brantley, 2013;Hinckley et al, 2014;Rempe and Dietrich, 2014;Langston et al, 2015], and biological processes [Moulton and Berner, 1998;Amundson et al, 2007;Gabet and Mudd, 2010;Roering et al, 2010]. Some of these later processes, climate, hydrology and biology, vary with aspect and elevation, thus within a large enough catchment the controls on CZ structure vary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the scale of individual hillslopes it is assumed that precipitation is distributed equally. However, hillslopes of varying aspects have different amounts of radiation input leading to differences in snow accumulation, soil temperature, and vegetation communities [Anderson et al, 2014], all of which can affect the amount and reactivity of the water that infiltrates into the deeper CZ. Whether these hydrologic differences leads to more extensive weathering on the northerly or southerly aspects is a function of whether the site is limited by the reactivity or availability of meteoric water [Ma et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of Hydrogeophysical Imaging in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory

Nielson¹

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Holbrook, at the University of Wyoming, and his student Brady Flinchum for being so generous with their data, insight, and time, with their help my understanding of the critical zone was greatly advanced. The countless professors and students in the BSU Geosciences department, who were all so generous with their insights into the hydrologic and geomorphic implications of this work. Mark Seyfried and Steve Van Vactor at the USDA ARS for providing the hydrologic data that made this work come together. The at least two dozen volunteer graduate and undergraduate students who were deceived into participating in grueling field campaigns in the middle of a hot summer. Of my fellows students Aida Mendieta, Diego Domenzain, Amy Streimke, and Paden Gould, were brave enough to participate in multiple surveys and thus invaluable in the field. And lastly the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory for funding me and this research.

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Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of Hydrogeophysical Imaging in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory

Nielson¹

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Critical Zone Biogeochemistry

Moravec

Chorover

2020

Biogeochemical Cycles

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Seasonal dynamics of marly badlands illustrated by field records of hillslope regolith properties, Draix–Bléone Critical Zone Observatory, South‐East France

Ariagno

Pasquet

Bouteiller

et al. 2023

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Sparsely vegetated badlands are loci of intense erosion that is sufficiently rapid to have observable effects on human timescales. Characterizing and understanding the physical weathering processes in these settings are key to predicting the temporal variability of regolith production and sediment flux, as well as their evolution under changing climate conditions. Here, we study intra‐annual changes of hillslope properties and explore the relationship between sediment production and transport in steep marly badland catchments of the Draix–Bléone Critical Zone Observatory (SE France), where decades‐long monitoring records show rapid morphological changes. There is evidence for seasonal dynamics of these badlands, but characterization and quantification of physical weathering processes have been lacking up to now. We explore this gap by monitoring key regolith parameters including grain‐size distribution (characterized by D50), surface resistance and water content in the regolith layer (surface to ∼10 cm depth) at different locations, through repeated field surveys over a 2.5‐year period. While water content appears to be directly controlled by the last previous rainfall event, the cyclic annual pattern in observed D50 suggests that loose and finely fragmented regolith is mainly produced and accumulates during the winter season, whereas sediment transport is dominant during spring–summer. This dynamic reduces regolith thickness and induces coarsening of hillslope surface material between early spring and autumn. Principal component analysis (PCA) highlights the strong correlation between resistance and D50. We therefore suggest that D50 provides the best proxy of regolith weathering in these marls. The spatial variability of the regolith was analysed through a geophysical profile, highlighting distinct behaviour depending on slope aspect. However, the distribution of slope angles is independent of aspect at the catchment scale. These results corroborate the strong annual dynamics of these catchments, where hillslopes and gullies are drained during spring and early summer high‐intensity precipitation events, inducing high sediment yields.

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Variation in Critical Zone Processes and Architecture across Slope Aspects

Cited by 23 publications

References 17 publications

Application of Hydrogeophysical Imaging in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory

Application of Hydrogeophysical Imaging in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory

Critical Zone Biogeochemistry

Seasonal dynamics of marly badlands illustrated by field records of hillslope regolith properties, Draix–Bléone Critical Zone Observatory, South‐East France

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