“The looming 100-foot instrumentation tower nestled among the pines in the southwest corner of the Valles Caldera National Preserve may help scientists answer some of the most important questions of our age,” according to an article published this week by the Los Alamos Monitor, which was penned by Dave Menicucci. Click here to read the full article.
The piece reports on a study being administered by the University of Arizona (UA) on the earth’s “Critical Zone,” which is “the zone from the treetops to the bottom of the groundwater table,” and was labeled as such “because of its key role in processing and cycling water, carbon and nutrients necessary for life,” according to UA. In addition to the Valles Caldera, the study is also taking place at five other sites nationwide, including in the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, AZ. In September, UA was awarded a $4.35 million grant by the National Science Foundation to extend this project for another five years. Click here to read a UA press release announcing the grant.
Valles Caldera National Preserve Chief Scientist Bob Parmenter explained in the Monitor piece how the Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) will help scientists observe processes that will aid them in achieving new insight about the Critical Zone, which is particularly important in an arid state such as New Mexico that depends on rainfall from mountains as the source of a significant portion of its water:
Too dense a forest will trap snow on the tree limbs, which allows the ice to sublimate directly to the air. With too little forestation, the snow hits the ground, but the lack of shade allows the sun to quickly melt it and it evaporates. In both cases, the water does not seep into the ground or flow to the streams. This implies that there is an optimal forest density for this area, which the CZO project will help us to establish.
The piece notes that Parmenter is planning to incorporate this study into the Preserve’s science education program by inviting students and teachers to visit the CZO site for experiments and observation, while being lodged at the Preserve’s new Science and Education Center.
The Monitor article concludes as such:
“While the Valles Caldera has been the focus of intense public scrutiny and controversy over the past year, its science programs under Parmenter’s capable tutelage have been steadily progressing. The CZO project is one of the preserve’s premier scientific achievements and its benefits are expected to be realized for years to come.”
