EAGER: Dynamic Response of the Soil Production Function to Erosion Rates

摘要：该项目的非技术描述，解释了该项目的意义和重要性土壤的形成及其从景观中移除是与人类生计和福祉相交的两个最重要的地质过程。农业需要土壤，土壤的特性影响地下水的可用性和不同景观的生态平衡。侵蚀是非常有害的，物质流入溪流的速度将对洪水产生影响。这个项目将审查土壤产生和侵蚀的速度，以便更好地评估对这一非常重要的自然资源的分配的控制。项目技术说明土壤厚度是地球表面的一个基本重要特征，在水文学、生态学、生物地球化学、侵蚀和运输过程中起着至关重要的作用。流行的理论预测，平均土壤厚度随着流域平均侵蚀速率的增加而减少，当侵蚀速率超过气候和岩性控制的最大土壤生成速率时，土壤覆盖的景观将让位给岩石景观。然而，最初的观察表明，在其他类似的景观中，土壤厚度的变化比这一理论所能解释的要大得多。该项目将在一系列精心挑选的实地地点使用就地和碎屑宇宙生成放射性核素分析和数字高程模型相结合的方法，量化对地质活跃地区土壤厚度的基本影响。

ABSTRACTA non-technical description of the project, which explains the project's significance and importanceThe formation of soil and its removal from the landscape are two of the most important geological processes that intersect with the livelihood and well-being of human populations. Soil is needed for agriculture, and the characteristics of this material affect the availability of groundwater and the ecological balance of different landscapes. Erosion can be very damaging and the rate at which material is transported to streams will have an impact on flooding. This project will examine the rate at which soil is produced and eroded in order to better assess the controls on the distribution of this very important natural resource.A technical description of the projectSoil thickness is a fundamentally important characteristic of the Earth's surface that plays an essential role in hydrology, ecology, biogeochemistry, erosion, and transport processes. The prevailing theory predicts that mean soil thickness decreases with increasing catchment-mean erosion rate and that soil-mantled landscapes give way to rocky ones when this erosion rate exceeds the climate- and lithology-controlled maximum soil production rate. However, initial observations indicate that soil thickness is much more variable across otherwise similar landscapes than can be explained by this theory. This project will use a combination of in situ and detrital cosmogenic radionuclide analyses and digital elevation models across a suite of carefully selected field sites to quantify the fundamental influences on soil thickness in geologically active regions.