Lecture: Creating the critical zone: dissolving, fracturing, and eating rocks
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
The critical zone is the region of terrestrial Earth extending from the treetops to where rock begins to weather. It’s critical because it provides many essentials that we need to survive on this planet - energy, nutrients, food, groundwater; it also mediates the release of toxins to the biosphere, controls water runoff and infiltration, affects the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and generates dust and sediments. The creation of the critical zone from solid rock is a complex but fascinating set of interlinked processes of chemical reactions, physical transport, fracturing, and metabolism.
The feedbacks amongst these very different processes determine many of the characteristics of the critical zone, such as the shape of it, the depth of it, how fast it evolves, and the fertility of it. Because the critical zone is so critical, it’s essential that we are able to preserve (or restore) its functions in the face of global and local environmental change. To do that, we need to understand exactly how these feedbacks work so that we can make accurate predictions of the consequences of environmental change as well as of our interventions. In this talk, I will discuss how these different processes are interlinked with a case study of spheroidal weathering in a tropical granitic rock, with extension to other lithologies and climate zones globally.
Attending via Zoom
This is a hybrid meeting: you can attend in person or join online via Zoom.
Bath Geological Society Members: Free of charge. Joining instructions and the Zoom link are sent to members by email prior to the lecture.
Visitors & Non-Members: (including members of the Geologists' Association and affiliated societies) Please book via Eventbrite to receive Zoom access (see the Entry Fee details above).
How to join: Click the Zoom link provided in your email or Eventbrite confirmation. You can join using the Zoom desktop or mobile app, or directly via your web browser without installing any software. The virtual waiting room opens approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, and attendees will be admitted before the talk commences.
For any queries about joining online, please contact [email protected].