# Critical Zone Science

Class notes for the GEOL 313: Critical Zone Science class.

This course introduces and examines the Critical Zone (CZ), Earth's permeable layer that extends from the top of vegetation to the bottom of the fresh groundwater zone. It is a constantly evolving boundary layer where rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms interact to regulate the landscape and natural habitats, and determine the availability of life-sustaining resources, including our food production and water quality. CZ science is a highly interdisciplinary and international pursuit that depends upon effective and informed trans-disciplinary science. This course format includes readings, discussions, presentations, and learning activities and utilizes  large quantity of interdisciplinary data available from the existing National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded CZ Observatories (CZO).

At the end of the course students will be able to:
* Analyze technological advances, breakthroughs in interpretation, and new observations to build their understanding of the Critical Zone in and beyond the class.
* Use a large variety of scientific principles to analyze how Earth's land surface works.
* Apply data sets and observations from multiple existing CZO sites to test ideas and summarize Critical Zone services.
* Describe the Critical Zone as a complex system of interacting regolith, water, air, and life.

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