The soil system stores more carbon than the atmosphere and biosphere combined. However, until recently most studies on soil carbon dynamics had focused on near surface soil organic carbon dynamics with relatively little attention devoted to determining how much carbon is in deep soils and how climate influences deep soil organic carbon dynamics. As a result, climatic influences on the mechanisms that regulate the magnitude and direction of changes in deep soil organic matter remain unclear. In my research, I investigate how climate regulates deep soil organic matter storage, chemical composition, stability, and stoichiometry. Accurate quantification of soil organic carbon concentration, chemistry, distribution, and flux in the soil system, at the scale of the whole soil profile, including saprolite, is critical to refining our understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle and the vulnerability of soil organic carbon to future changes in climate.