Earth Critical Zone Dynamics in the Quaternary: Natural Forcing, Human Impacts, and Environmental Responses

The Earth Critical Zone (ECZ), defined as the near-surface environment extending from the vegetation canopy to the lower limits of groundwater circulation, represents the dynamic interface where geological, hydrological, biological, atmospheric, and anthropogenic processes interact. Understanding how the ECZ has responded to natural environmental variability and human activities through time is essential for reconstructing past landscape evolution and for assessing the resilience of terrestrial systems under current and future environmental change.The Quaternary period provides a unique temporal framework to investigate the long-term dynamics of ECZ and understand its future trends. Climatic oscillations, hydrological changes, vegetation shifts, and surface and near-surface geomorphic processes repeatedly altered the structure and functioning of landscapes, soils, sedimentary systems, and hydrological networks. Superimposed on these natural drivers, human societies have increasingly acted as significant agents of environmental transformation, modifying erosion and sedimentation patterns, soil formation processes, water resources, ecosystem functioning, and biogeochemical cycles.This Research Topic aims to bring together interdisciplinary contributions that explore the responses of ECZ systems to both natural forcing and anthropogenic impacts during the Quaternary. We welcome studies integrating geological, geomorphological, paleoenvironmental, geoarchaeological, pedological,  and ecological perspectives, as well as innovative methodological approaches based on field investigations, laboratory analyses, remote sensing, numerical modelling, and multiproxy reconstructions.Particular attention will be given to research addressing thresholds, tipping points, resilience, recovery processes, and feedback mechanisms within ECZ systems. Contributions focusing on the onset and intensification of human-induced environmental change, the emergence of anthropogenic landscapes, and the long-term legacy of human activities on Critical Zone functioning are especially encouraged.The Research Topic seeks to foster dialogue among Earth scientists, environmental archaeologists, and Critical Zone researchers, promoting a holistic understanding of the processes that have shaped terrestrial environments throughout the Quaternary and highlighting their relevance for understanding and addressing future environmental challenges.Topics include, but are not limited to: • Quaternary evolution of Earth Critical Zone systems; • Climate-driven perturbations and landscape responses; • Human-induced modifications of soils, sediments, and hydrological systems; • Geoarchaeological perspectives on human-environment interactions; • Sediment fluxes, erosion, and depositional dynamics; • Critical Zone responses to abrupt climatic events; • Thresholds, resilience, and tipping points in terrestrial systems; • Multiproxy reconstructions of environmental change; • Biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem evolution through the Quaternary; • Integrating field observations, geochronology, modelling, and remote sensing for Critical Zone research; • Innovative archives for the ECZ dynamic; • The Earth Critical Zone in the Anthropocene debate. Topic editors: Andrea Zerboni, Eleonora Regattieri, David K. Wright, Xin Mao Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82510/earth-critical-zone-dynamics-in-the-quaternary-natural-forcing-human-impacts-and-environmental-responses