Southern Sierra CZO VFE

• systematically researches the properties of the critical zone, the processes that create and change it, and how those properties and processes vary over time and space

• uses instruments placed in the Sierra Nevada; samples of water, soil, air, rock and vegetation; and computer models as methods of research

• serves as a resource for other researchers to use, kind of like a library or community center, with shareable field sites, samples, data, and findings

• all of this helps researchers answer important questions about the critical zone

• How have plants shaped the landscape?
• How have animals generally, and humans in particular, changed the landscape?
• On what scale?
• See also ecosystem graphic organizer.

Why do the Southern Sierras look the way they do?

Yes. There are all of these.

At this study site rain and snow events erodes the land to form "V" shaped valleys.

Download the accompanying Google Earth file!

About the Critical Zone

The modern Sierra Nevada is quite young in geologic terms, since the all of uplift that has created it has occurred in the last 10 million years. By the end of Cretaceous time, about 65 million years ago, much of the granitic core of the range had been exposed. At that point the area had a low relief in comparison with the mountains of today. About 25 million years ago, this lowland area began to uplift and tilt toward the southwest. The oldest rocks in the Sierra Nevada are quite a bit older and distinctly different from the granitic rocks.

Watch this video to learn about the Critical Zone and the research goals of Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs). 6.5 minutes

http://virtualfieldwork.org/GEfiles/Southern-Sierra-CZO.kmz

• Click the link inside the Google Earth icon!
• The file will open in a new window, so you will need to leave full screen viewing to see it.
• You will need Google Earth to use the file. Download it at http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

The Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory is one of ten CZOs in the United States.

Snowmelt patterns around the (Abies concolor) white fir tree can be viewed in this 2008-2009 video.

Exfoliation of granite rocks occurs at this non-glaciated site (above).

Where is the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory?

The Critical Zone:

• The outermost layer of Earth that forms our environment

• Where "rock meets life" - the zone where rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms interact and shape the Earth's surface

A tree's roots weather soil and obtain nutrients from the bedrock (left).

• Spans vertically from the tops of the trees, to the area where bedrock is turning into soil, to the depths that we find groundwater

http://criticalzone.org/national/research/the-critical-zone-1national/

What does the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory do?

Plants are able to grow in small cracks and fissures in the exfoliating pluton.

Snow depth depends on the patterns of forest trees and openings.

Why do the Southern Sierras look the way they do?

Stream water moves soil and carries it downslope.

Snow melts

later in

the season on south facing slopes vs. north facing slopes.

Describe how life shapes the land.

Deer love to browse

shrubs and small trees

A clutch of eggs hidden in the brush

A brown bear enjoying the meadow

At different times in the year, trees draft water from shallow and deep soil depths

• Why do living things in the environment look the way they do?
• What life forms were the earliest to arrive?
• Describe how different life forms are distributed throughout the field site.
• What is the impact of invasive species and other disturbances?
• See also: Describe how life shapes the land.

• Do the rocks seem to form a sequence?
• Where would you find the oldest rocks? Youngest rocks?
• Does the rock record include evidence of ancient disturbances? If yes, describe.
• Are there different kinds of rocks at different outcrops?

Sediments & Sedimentary Rocks

• Is it clastic or organic/chemical?
• If clastic, what is the grain size?
• If organic, what minerals is it made out of?
• Are there fossils or sedimentary structures?

Metamorphic

Is it foliated or non-foliated?

What was the parent rock?

Igneous

Did the rock form above or below ground?

Is it felsic or mafic?

Abstract:

• In what ways does water serve or disturb habitats?
• How does life move, use and store water?

Plants

• How have plants shaped the landscape?
• How has the landscape shaped plants?

• How is the climate reflected by living things at the site?
• Describe any microclimates and how they affect life.
• Describe how sun and shadow affect life.
• What is the role of fire, hurricanes or other climate-related disturbances in shaping this landscape?

Other

• What invasive species are currently present
• How will incoming invasives shape this ecosystem over the next 100 years?

View from the top of the P301 tower looking at the forest

Animals

• How do animals contribute to plant distribution?

See also the geoscience graphic organizer.

Replace the above image with an interesting image or set of images from your field site.

A bit about the Pedagogy

The Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (SSCZO) is investigating how mountain soils and weathered bedrock develop over geologic time, and interactions with shorter-term climate variability and ecosystem behavior. This understanding provides the foundation for predicting how environmental change, including human disturbances, fire, pests and changes in climate, influence water resources, material flows and forest health. The SSCZO is pioneering accurate measurement systems for snow accumulation and melt, soil moisture, climate and evapotranspiration; and the use of the measurements to drive advanced models for forecasting future conditions. Through partnerships with regional stakeholders SSCZO results help to assess options available to resource managers to enhance management of forests, water and other ecosystem services, given environmental change.The conceptual science model for the SSCZO is built around links between water/material fluxes and landscape/climate variability across the rain-snow transition. Investigations link drivers of change to impacts on the water cycle, ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, and ultimately to impacts on ecosystem services. Ongoing research focuses on water balance, nutrient cycling and weathering across the rain-snow transition, with soil moisture as the integrating variable.

• VFEs are question driven: Why does this place look the way it does?

• Deep investigation of the driving question requires a systems approach.

• While VFEs can supplant actual fieldwork, they should also serve as a catalyst for fieldwork.

• While using a VFE can include genuine inquiry, they will more likely drive inquiry if used as models for teachers and students to make their own (typically local) VFE.

Landforms

Plants

Rocks

Water

• VFEs resonate with the Maker Movement - they aren't always pretty, but the act of making them yields good learning.

Resources

• Like actual fieldwork, virtual fieldwork is never finished, but VFEs can become ready for use fairly quickly.

http://virtualfieldwork.org/

Earth Science Bigger Ideas

Several exposed plutons are at this study site.

See more here:

Color coded to ReaL Earth System Science Bigger Ideas.

Notes

http://prezi.com/j8_hrpzdkdd_/big-ideas-in-earth-system-science/

Icons for Prezi & Google Earth

A growing collection can be found in this Picasa Web Album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/TFG.VFE/IconsForGoogleEarthPlacemarksPrezis#

Any on the current page can be copied and used within this or other Prezis.

Why did we choose these sites?

Example VFEs

The Mission Trails VFE uses this template. See it here:

http://prezi.com/sjxfqeyrsiga/mission-trails-vfe-compilation/

Instruments on towers like these let us track how the forests breathe - we look at water and carbon dioxide. Other instruments on the ground let us measure differences across space or time for snow and water.

Where is the snow and how long does it stay there?

The VFE Template

Many more VFEs are in VFE database here:

http://virtualfieldwork.org/A_VFE_Database.html

Use the VFE Template to make your own VFE! See it here:

http://prezi.com/xfiwcchax-1q/vfe-template/

That's the page you're on!

Make a copy of the template and insert your own photos, text, and other kinds of files. A piece of the template is excerpted below.

Why does this place look the way it does?

Key for Icons

The icons below are used in Google Earth, Prezis and PowerPoints to indicate an iterm's intended topic focus. Several are from Google Earth's default icon set. They are also posted in a Picasa web album found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/TFG.VFE/IconsForGoogleEarthPlacemarksPrezis

Icons maybe copied within a Prezi or from Prezi to Prezi, if you are viewing in edit mode. To use them for Google Earth placemarks, open the placemark through 'Get Info' (on Macs) or 'Properties' (on PCs) and click on the pushpin icon in the upper right. Then, either select from the available set, or add the icon's URL by copying and pasting from the Picasa Web Album. A red indicates that the connected file or placemark is a teacher's edition. Additional icons will be added as time and need dictate.

Animals

Climate

Ecology

Glaciers/Glaciation

Human Impacts