Observing water, carbon and mineral interactions in the deeply weathered critical zone

Tree roots commonly extend into bedrock where they exchange water and
carbon with the atmosphere. This has consequences for bedrock weathering
and water availability, as well as how water resources evolve over time
and space with climate change. In this talk,I describe new insights
about how forests interact with underlying bedrock gleaned from novel
sampling systems, geophysical tools, and remote sensing capabilities
that allow us to document how hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in
the bedrock root-zone manifest at larger scales. I will focus on
observations from recent droughts in the western US that motivate a new
framework for incorporating bedrock properties into projections of
ecosystem and streamflow response to drought.