In October, Eos highlights the importance of critical zone science, the research that is moving it forward, and the role it will play in connecting people across various communities.

Featured Articles

• Critical Zone Science Comes of Age — The developing field, which unites Earth scientists to examine the planet’s surface as a single, unified entity, is unraveling the complex, interconnected processes that support life on Earth.
• Critical Agents of Change at Earth’s Surface — By way of agriculture and industry, humans have major influences on the critical zone. Our past and present effects on the landscape, soil, and water will echo for a long time to come.
• Life Teems Below the Surface — Scientists are resolving how plants, microbes, and lithology sculpt the structure of the critical zone.
• Linking Critical Zone Water Storage and Ecosystems — The geology and the structure of Earth’s critical zone control subsurface moisture storage potential and determine the resilience of forest and river ecosystems to drought.
• Soil Signals Tell of Landscape Disturbances — The lasting influence humans have on Earth’s critical zone—and how geologic forces have mediated those influences—is revealed in studies of soil and carbon migration.
• Demystifying Critical Zone Science to Make It More Inclusive — A new network that embraces scientists with wide-ranging experiences and expertise aims to solve the challenges of Earth’s critical zone.
• Next Steps for the Critical Zone — In October, Eos examines a pivotal point for a field of science that’s starting to make a name for itself.

Find the full pdf version of this issue here.