Rapid advances in measurement and observation technology provide unprecedented access to resolving soil processes at spatial scales ranging from pore to landscape. Opportunities abound to address long-standing questions related to representation of soil processes across many scales (reconciling pore to landscape), accounting for pore space complexity, establishing connections between physical, biological and chemical processes, and more.
For example, fundamental theories related to the function and impact of microbial communities and plant roots on fluxes and interactions within the soil matrix are only beginning to emerge. A theoretical framework for transient, coupled transport of water, heat and solute has yet to explicitly include the simple, well-known concepts of electro-osmosis and streaming potentials in soils - be it under water-saturated or unsaturated conditions. To date, limitations of Richards’ equation have not been elucidated, yet this physically-based expression is applied across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
The goal of the 2008 Kirkham Conference is to challenge the state-of-practice by exploring crucial, yet-to-be understood soil physical, chemical and biological processes taking place simultaneously and identifying the degree of their dependencies. Moreover, to broaden the scope and relevancy of soil physics the conference seeks connections with, and insight from, related sciences.
The Kirkham Conference serves as a platform for expanding and blurring the disciplinary boundaries of traditional soil physics by seeking unhindered exchange of ideas, and by in-depth exploration of methods developed and tested in other disciplines for addressing a wide range of processes taking place in soils and other porous media.
Within this broad framework, presented research could be well outside soil physics. For example porous-media science includes applications in medicine, textiles, material science, ecology, hydrology, chemistry, biology, space science and plant sciences. However, invited speakers are asked to present a physical focus of their work and seek connections with soil physics if applicable. We seek contributions in the various fields that are thought-provoking and innovative, and that are either very fundamental or are sufficiently different of the status quo.
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