ARCHIVED CONTENT: In December 2020, the CZO program was succeeded by the Critical Zone Collaborative Network (CZ Net) ×

Cross-CZO Studies

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Scalability, Transferability, and Expanding the Critical Zone Science Network Internationally

The IML-CZO is participating in select activities proposed by other CZOs:

The proposed CZ Network Cyberseminar Series (with R. Hooper of CUAHSI)
CZ Network Research Workshops
Joint Research Field Campaigns
“Drill the Ridge”
Cross-CZO Modeling activities

Collaboration across disciplines and across CZOs is one of the project's greatest benefits.

Cross-CZO Visiting Chinese Scholars Network:

Expanding the CZO network concept to China has long been an important target of the National Science Foundation of China, NSF of the United States, and SoilTrEC of the European Union. At the 2012 Wuhan CZO workshop held at the China University of Geosciences, many participants spoke very favorably of the concept and the goal to link potential sites in China, the United States, and Europe. We propose that CZO funds be matched with appropriate resources in China to establish a CZO Visiting Chinese Scholars Network for hosting those interested in establishing and maintaining CZO-like networks in China in conjunction with reciprocal visits. The U.S. CZOs would host the scholars, paying for their accommodations (five scholars for one month).

The U.S.-China Ecopartnerships (co-PI Filley is the Purdue director of this program) will play an important role in this program. We would also encourage partnerships with the China Scholarship Council to host longer-term student exchanges (one to two years), with travel costs covered by the Chinese institutions.

Cross-CZO Workshop on Proxies for Provenance and Process (PPP):

Collaboration between researchers from different disciplines is one of the linchpins of CZO research.

We propose a weeklong workshop to discuss analytical and sensing innovations and problems related to the use of specific isotopic, mineralogical, microbial, and organic geochemical proxies and various in-situ sensors for measuring hydrological and ecological fluxes across CZO sites. Workshop topics could include:

Matching analytical measures to desired drivers or sources
Matrix and quantity limitations in proxy effectiveness
Cross laboratory standardization of measurements
Distribution of working standards for common measurements
Defining quantitative vs. qualitative proxies
Standardizing sensor networks (such as selection, calibration, and installation of various sensors)

In addition, the workshop would provide an opportunity to discuss the integration of these proxies and measurements into mechanistic and process-level models. This workshop would stimulate research collaborations across disciplines and across CZOs. Such workshops could also generate or facilitate follow-up proposals, synthesis papers, or integrative models. Our CZO would provide travel and accommodation allowances for a select number of invited participants, but the workshop would be open to all. These workshops can be linked to the CZ Network Cyberseminar Series and CZ Network Research Workshops proposed by other CZOs.

Cross-CZO Modeling:

Ongoing modeling activities at each CZO will be communicated and integrated across the network through a series of cross-site visits. Our CZO pledges travel funds for modelers to visit and tour our CZO. During those visits, modelers will be cross-fertilized in terms of conceptualizations and codes to help make best use of available data. This activity can be tied together with CZO Joint Research Field Campaigns proposed by other CZOs. In particular, we plan to apply and test the MLCan model in the IML and Shale Hills CZOs to investigate similarities and differences in soil/plant continuum and the relationship between above- and below-ground biotic/abiotic interactions. Such a modeling effort could be extended to other CZOs. We will also jointly investigate the proposed integrative and adaptive 4M (mapping, monitoring, modeling, and managing) strategy for applications in several CZOs.

Collaboration between researchers from different disciplines is one of the linchpins of CZO research.