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An open system framework for integrating critical zone structure and function

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Abstract

The “critical zone” includes the coupled earth surface systems of vegetation, regolith and groundwater that are essential to sustaining life on the planet. The function of this zone is the result of complex interactions among physical, chemical and biological processes and understanding these interactions remains a major challenge to earth system sciences. Here we develop an integrated framework based on thermodynamic theory to characterize the critical zone as a system open to energy and mass fluxes that are forced by radiant, geochemical, and elevational gradients. We derive a statement that demonstrates the relative importance of solar radiation, water, carbon, and physical/chemical denudation mass fluxes to the critical zone energy balance. Within this framework we use rates of effective energy and mass transfer [EEMT; W m−2] to quantify the relevant flux-gradient relations. Synthesis of existing data demonstrates that variation in energetics associated with primary production and effective precipitation explains substantial variance in critical zone structure and function. Furthermore, we observe threshold behavior in systems that transition to primary production predominance of the energy flux term. The proposed framework provides a first order approximation of non-linearity in critical zone processes that may be coupled with physical and numerical models to constrain landscape evolution.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the University of Arizona Critical Zone Work Group that contributed to discussion and framework development, including Dave Breshears, James Hogan, Shirley Kurc, Kathleen Lohse, Jennifer McIntosh, Tom Meixner and Marcel Schaap. This work was supported by B2 Earthscience through the Philecology Foundation, and National Science Foundation grants DEB-0418134, DEB-0415977, DEB-0543130, EAR-0632516, EAR-0724958, and the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deparment of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, The University of Arizona, 1177 E. Fourth Street, Shantz Bldg., Rm. 429, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0038, USA

    Craig Rasmussen & Jon Chorover

  2. Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Peter A. Troch & Paul Brooks

  3. Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Jon Pelletier

  4. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Travis E. Huxman

  5. B2 Earthscience, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Travis E. Huxman

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  1. Craig Rasmussen
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Correspondence to Craig Rasmussen.

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Rasmussen, C., Troch, P.A., Chorover, J. et al. An open system framework for integrating critical zone structure and function. Biogeochemistry 102, 15–29 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9476-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9476-8

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