Chemical weathering of minerals, the formation of soils, and the mobilization and oxidation of organic carbon contained in rocks, regolith, and vegetation influence biogeochemical cycles at Earth’s surface and, thereby, Earth’s climate and the distribution of nutrients and life. Both, chemical weathering and organic carbon mobilization are strongly linked to the physical processes of erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment, as well as to hydrological and biological processes. Because of this complexity, many methodological and conceptual challenges remain in (1) understanding mechanisms of weathering and soil formation and their dependence on, and feedbacks with climate, biota, tectonics, and physical erosion processes, (2) measuring rates of pedogenesis and the chemical mobilization of rocks and organic material; and (3) linking these findings to the evolution of Earth’s biogeochemical processes through geologic time.

This session combines new field, laboratory, and modeling studies on chemical weathering, soil formation, the mobilization and transport of organic carbon, and their impacts on biogeochemical cycles. It encompasses new findings on micro-scale processes, for example mineral weathering and the role of microbial habitats, as well as landscape-scale and global studies of chemical cycles. The session also integrates temporal scales, by considering both, rapidly ongoing present-day processes and processes that are relevant on geologic timescales and will, thus, provide an interdisciplinary view of the mechanisms and impacts of chemical transformations on Earth’s surface.