CZO: Spatial and temporal integration of carbon and mineral fluxes: a whole watershed approach to quantifying anthropogenic modification of critical zone carbon sequestration.

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。提议活动的智力价值：人类与农业、城市化和挖掘相关的地球移动重新塑造了整个景观，并构成了地球关键区域内的主要地质力量。关键地带，定义为从树顶延伸到地下水和河流网络的陆地层，维持着地球上大多数陆地生命。比地球上任何时候都快吗？随着历史的发展，侵蚀和挖掘暴露了地下土壤物质和未风化的矿物质，它们混合在土壤中，并作为泥沙负荷通过河流网络从源头输送到河口。为了量化人类作为地质因素对全球碳循环的影响，来自特拉华大学（UD）和斯特劳德水研究中心（SWRC）的一个多学科科学家团队将在1440平方公里的克里斯蒂娜河流域（CRB/CZO）内建立一个关键区域观测站（CZO）。在位于宾夕法尼亚州东南部和特拉华州北部、横跨无冰川的山前和沿海平原地理省的CRB/CZO内进行的科学调查将检验以下首要假设：人类通过加速将矿物引入生物和化学活跃地带，显著增强了矿物和有机物之间的相互作用，并对陆地和大气之间的碳交换产生了全球性的重大影响。CRB/CZO内的人类足迹跨越了几个世纪，目前的土地用途包括次生林、农业、郊区和城市发展。这为我们提供了一个理想的自然实验室，我们将沿着人类影响的梯度研究关键区域内的基本生物、化学和地质过程。我们将特别关注从高地到内陆水域和从内陆水域到沿海地区的水、沉积物和碳的来源、运输和命运。CRB/CZO将利用前沿技术实时收集水文、物理和化学数据，并利用先进的网络基础设施，将实时数据与最先进的图形工具无缝融合，及时开放访问质量控制数据和支持材料。现场安装和数据管理的进步将加强现有广泛的监测站网络，用于监测CRB盆地内的水流和水化学，包括特拉华州沿海水域，并将建立在UD， SWRC和许多州，联邦和非政府机构进行的数十年研究的坚实基础上。拟议活动的更广泛影响：拟议的CRB/CZO将通过开放获取数据，为利用增强监测网络的研究项目提供机会，从而成为更大科学界的资源。新成立的特拉华环境研究所（DENIN）位于特拉华大学和特拉华大学促进竞争研究实验项目（EPSCoR），将与CRB/CZO合作开展推广活动。向克里斯蒂娜盆地内的利益相关者进行公众宣传是向决策者提供CRB/CZO数据的关键步骤。特拉华州与特拉华州政府机构之间的紧密联系将加强环境数据的共享，并将向公众和政策制定者提供宣传。我们的一些外联工作将通过水资源署进行协调，该机构是特拉华大学公共行政研究所的一部分。克里斯蒂娜盆地水质管理委员会由来自15个联邦、州和地方环境资源机构的代表组成，该委员会每年举办一系列公众研讨会，以确定决策者的科学需求。我们将把CRB/CZO的科学成果纳入这些研讨会，目的是在科学与公共政策之间提供直接的接口。SWRC拥有4名全职工作人员，将我们的研究成果转化为面向初高中学生、教师和公民/保护团体的教育项目。参与CRB/CZO的研究生将由与DENIN相关的多学科科学家团队和SWRC的科学家提供建议。与其他学术和联邦机构人员的合作将进一步加强跨学科研究、学生教育和公众宣传。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Intellectual Merit of the Proposed Activity: Earth moving by humans associated with agriculture, urbanization, and excavation re-contours entire landscapes and constitutes a major geological force within the critical zone of planet Earth. The Critical Zone, defined as the terrestrial layer extending from tree tops through the groundwater and into stream networks, sustains most terrestrial life on the planet. At a greater rate than ever in Earth?s history, erosion and excavation expose sub-soil materials and unweathered minerals, which mix into and within soils, and are transported as sediment loads through river networks from headwaters to estuaries. To quantify the impacts on the global carbon cycle of humans as geological agents, a multidisciplinary team of scientists from University of Delaware (UD) and Stroud Water Research Center (SWRC) will establish a Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) within the 1440 km2 Christina River drainage basin (CRB/CZO). Scientific investigations within the CRB/CZO, located in SE Pennsylvania and N. Delaware and straddling unglaciated Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces, will test the following overarching hypothesis: Humans, by accelerating the introduction of minerals into biologically and chemically active zones significantly enhance the interactions between minerals and organic matter and create globally significant impacts on the exchange of carbon between land and the atmosphere.The human footprint within the CRB/CZO spans centuries and current land uses include second growth forests, agriculture, and suburban and urban development This provides an ideal natural laboratory in which we will investigate fundamental biological, chemical, and geological processes within the critical zone along a gradient of human impacts. We will particularly focus on the sources, transport and fates of water, sediments and carbon from uplands to inland waters and from inland waters to the coastal zone. The CRB/CZO will utilize cutting edge technologies for real-time gathering of hydrological, physical and chemical data and advances in cyber-infrastructure that seamlessly merge real-time data with state-of-the-art graphics tools to provide timely open access to quality controlled data and supporting materials. Field installations and data management advances will enhance an extensive existing network of stations used for monitoring water flow and water chemistry within the CRB basin, including Delaware Coastal Waters, and will build upon a solid foundation of decades of research conducted by UD, SWRC, and numerous state, federal, and non-governmental agencies.Broader impacts of the proposed activity: The proposed CRB/CZO will serve as a resource to the greater scientific community through open access to data and opportunities for research projects that take advantage of the enhanced monitoring network. The new Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), located at UD and DE Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) will partner with the CRB/CZO on outreach activities. Public outreach to stake holders within the Christina Basin is a critical step in making CRB/CZO data available to policy makers. Strong ties between UD and Delaware state agencies will enhance the sharing of environmental data and will provide outreach to the public and policy makers. Some of our outreach will be coordinated through the Water Resources Agency, part of the UD Institute for Public Administration. The Christina Basin Water Quality Management Committee, which includes representatives from 15 federal, state, and local environmental resource agencies, hosts an annual series of public workshops to identify the science needs of policy makers. We will incorporate science results from the CRB/CZO into these workshops with the goal of providing a direct interface between science and public policy. The SWRC maintains 4 full-time staff members to translate our research into educational programs for middle- and high schoolaged students, teachers, and citizen/conservation groups. Graduate students who are involved with the CRB/CZO will be advised by multidisciplinary team of scientists associated with the DENIN and with scientists at SWRC. Collaborations with other academic and federal agency personnel will further enhance interdisciplinary research, student education, and public outreach.