I am a chemical geomorphologist: a person who studies the interaction of chemical processes and physical erosion processes on the Earth’s surface. My current focus is on how rock breaks down to be released into mobile regolith (or soil) through physical stresses and chemical alteration. The architecture of weathered rock and soil layers at the surface reflects the history of emplacement of the rock, tectonic movements, attack by biologic systems (roots and associated microorganisms), and climate-driven erosion processes. I study aspects of these processes: weathered rock strength, water flow paths, rates of mobile regolith formation, rock chemical alteration, solute fluxes. The goal is to develop models that describe interaction of erosion and weathering processes to form the architecture of the near-surface environments, also known as the critical zone.
