The critical zone (CZ) is the outermost layer of our planet where life, air, water and rocks interact. The CZ hosts a wide variety of hydrological, geochemical and biological processes that occur across multiple scales, thereby shaping landscapes, sustaining ecosystems and regulating resource availability. The deepest part of the CZ, consisting of the soil continuum, regolith and fractured bedrock, plays a major role in its overall functioning, as it controls water flow partitioning and storage, soil formation and nutrient production and availability. However, difficulty accessing in-depth information about the CZ architecture, properties and dynamics limits our understanding of how the CZ works. In this context, geophysical methods can help overcome these difficulties by measuring, in a non-invasive way, and at different scales, several physical parameters that are linked to variations in the properties and processes of the CZ at depth.

This Research Topic is dedicated to the most recent and innovative applications of near-surface geophysical methods to: (i) characterize the deep critical zone architecture, (ii) monitor the dynamic critical zone processes within the hydro-, bio- and geochemical cycles. We welcome novel methodologies taking advantage of standard or more advanced geophysical techniques, and applied across multiple scales ranging from laboratory to regional-scale studies, at single sites or along different gradients (geological, climatic etc.). We also seek contributions focusing on joint interpretation/inversion of different datasets in order to address the non-unicity of CZ imaging, and particularly welcome the application of petrophysical relationships to link laboratory and field-scale measurements. Studies using geophysics to inform relevant hydrological structures, track water flow paths and associated travel times, highlight geochemical reactive fronts and hotspots, and monitor biologically mediated processes are especially targeted. We therefore encourage more holistic, cross-disciplinary studies combining near-surface geophysics with other CZ-focused disciplines (e.g. geochemistry, hydrology, geomorphology, biology etc.).

We welcome submissions focusing on, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Critical zone
• Near-surface geophysics
• Petrophysics
• Weathering
• Water-rock interaction
• Regolith
• Subsurface water flow and storage dynamics

The following article types are available: Original Research, Mini Review, Opinion, Review, Technology

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