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。拟议活动的智力价值：与农业、城市化和挖掘有关的人类活动改变了整个景观的轮廓，构成了地球关键地带的主要地质力量。临界区的定义是从树顶通过地下水延伸到河流网络的陆地层，维持着地球上大多数陆地生命。比地球上任何时候都快？由于人类的历史、侵蚀和挖掘，暴露了下层土壤物质和未风化的矿物，这些物质混合在土壤中，并作为沉积物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，来自特拉华州大学（UD）和斯特劳德水研究中心（SWRC）的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）内建立一个临界区观测站（CZO）。位于宾夕法尼亚州东南部和北卡罗来纳州的CRB/CZO内的科学调查。特拉华州和横跨无冰川的皮埃蒙特和沿海平原自然地理省，将测试以下总体假设：人类，通过加速将矿物引入生物和化学活性区，显著增强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全球性的重大影响。CRB/CZO跨越几个世纪，目前的土地利用包括二次生长森林，农业，郊区和城市发展这提供了一个理想的自然实验室，我们将在其中研究基本的生物，化学和地质过程的关键地带沿着梯度的人类影响。我们将特别关注从高地到内陆沃茨和从内陆沃茨到沿海地区的水、沉积物和碳的来源、运输和归宿。CRB/CZO将利用尖端技术实时收集水文、物理和化学数据，并利用网络基础设施的进步，将实时数据与最先进的图形工具无缝融合，以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增强用于监测CRB流域（包括特拉华州沿海沃茨）内水流和水化学的广泛的现有站点网络，并将建立在UD、SWRC和许多州、联邦和非政府机构数十年研究的坚实基础上。拟议的CRB/CZO将通过开放获取数据和利用增强的监测网络进行研究项目的机会，为更大的科学界提供资源。新的特拉华州环境研究所（DENIN），位于UD和DE实验计划，以刺激竞争性研究（EPSCoR）将与CRB/CZO合作开展外联活动。克里斯蒂娜盆地内的利益相关者的公众宣传是向政策制定者提供CRB/CZO数据的关键一步。UD和特拉华州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。我们的一些外展活动将通过水资源机构进行协调，该机构是UD公共管理研究所的一部分。克里斯蒂娜流域水质管理委员会包括来自15个联邦、州和地方环境资源机构的代表，每年举办一系列公共研讨会，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，目的是在科学和公共政策之间提供直接的接口。SWRC拥有4名全职工作人员，将我们的研究转化为针对初中和高中学生，教师和公民/保护团体的教育计划。与CRB/CZO有关的研究生将由与DENIN和SWRC科学家有关的多学科科学家团队提供建议。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.