CZO: Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory

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。这个项目将在波多黎各卢奎略国家森林的两个流域建立一个监测网，以评价基岩风化和土壤环境演变所涉及的物理、化学、水文和生物过程。这将是在北美不同地点启动的关键区域天文台（CZO）的补充。Luquillo CZO将使用Luquillo山脉的自然实验室来量化和对比由花岗闪长岩和火山碎屑基岩构成的流域的关键带过程是如何受到气候条件、水文、地球化学和生物地球化学循环的影响的。一组相互关联的假设、采样地点和统一的数据管理系统将允许关键区域过程通过基岩、景观位置（山脊、山坡、河岸）、深度（地表到基岩）、森林类型（Tabonuco、Colorado、Cloud）和位置（高地到沿海）进行对比。气候变化影响了许多过程，岩石分解成土壤；是最重要的。此外，河流的水流也可能发生变化，地表物质也可能受到侵蚀。沉积物已经是美国最大的水质污染物，现代土地利用正在以前所未有的方式侵蚀土壤和雕刻基岩。Luquillo临界区观测站将提供基础设施和基线研究，以评估这种侵蚀对土壤和水资源的短期和长期影响。天文台亦会支持不同界别的科学家进行综合、多机构及多元文化的交流，共同探讨气候变化对地球环境的影响。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project will establish a monitoring network in two watersheds of the Luquillo National Forest in Puerto Rico to evaluate the physical, chemical, hydrological and biological processes involved in weathering of bedrock and the evolution of the soil environment. This will be an addition to the Critical Zone Observatories (CZO) that are being initiated at various locations in North America. The Luquillo CZO will use the natural laboratory of the Luquillo Mountains to quantify and contrast how critical zone processes in watersheds underlain by granodiorite and volcaniclastic bedrock are affected by climatic conditions and hydrologic, geochemical and biogeochemical cycles. A set of interrelated hypothesis, sampling sites, and a unified data management system will allow critical zone processes to be contrasted by bedrock, landscape position (ridge, hillslope, riparian), depth (surface to bedrock), forest type (Tabonuco, Colorado, Cloud) and location (upland to coastal). Changing climate affects many processes, and the breakdown of rocks into soil; is one of the most important. In addition, there may be changes in water flow in rivers, as well as erosion of surficial materials. Sediment is already the nation's largest water quality pollutant and modern land uses are eroding soils and sculpting bedrock in unprecedented ways. The Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory will provide the infrastructure and baseline studies needed to evaluate short and long-term impacts of this erosion on soil and water resources. The Observatory will also support integrated, multi-institutional and multicultural exchanges among a diverse cadre of scientists, who will collaborate to determine the effects of climate change on the terrestrial environment.