The Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO) is located in Luquillo Mountains of northeastern Puerto Rico. The multi-disciplinary team of geoscientists working at the site are addressing a set of specific hypotheses that are related to the following overarching questions: How do critical zone processes and the flow and transformations of material differ in landscapes with contrasting bedrock but similar climates, land use, and geologic histories? What are the implications of these differences for the long term sustainability of water and soil resources?
Specifically, the observatory is quantifying and comparing critical zone (CZ) processes in landforms and watersheds underlain by three different rock types, granodiorites, volcaniclastics, and their associated contact metamorphic rocks. Previous research has demonstrated that these are some of the most rapidly eroding watersheds in the world. There are also dramatic, but poorly quantified, contrasts in CZ processes between areas underlain by these bedrocks. Individual research project include studies of deep weathering, soil formation and soil carbon accumulation, riparian zone dynamics, fluvial geomorphology, and meteorology. Infrastructure includes weather stations, instrumented soil pits and riparian zones, and stream flow gages.
The principal researchers and students involve in the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory are from the University of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Puerto Rico, the US Geological Survey, and the US Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry. The Observatory will also provide facilities for collaborators from a host of US and International Universities and Research Centers.

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