Water, Landscape, and Critical Zone Processes (WaLCZ)

The Water, Landscape, and Critical Zone Processes program supports research on the Earth's near-surface environment and how that environment responds to change. The Program focuses on the complex interplay amongst and between hydrologic, geomorphic, and geochemical processes and how they regulate the structure and function of the Earth's near surface. These processes drive weathering and soil development, control water availability and quality, and help regulate the Earth's climate system, all of which are important for natural resource sustainability and mitigation of natural hazards. The program supports robust, hypothesis-driven research that investigates underlying mechanisms or controls on the Earth's near-surface environment. Projects may be contained within a single traditional research domain (e.g. hydrology, geomorphology, environmental geochemistry) or involve multiple domains. It is expected that the research funded in this program will advance fundamental knowledge in Earth surface processes, leading to transformational discoveries in Earth Sciences.