Work Under Way in Biosphere 2 on Three Huge Experimental Slopes

Reprint from October 26, 2011 © Arizona Daily Star

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project will help study the f low of water in and across landscapes Work under way in Biosphere 2 on three huge experimental slopes

david sanders / arizona daily star Atop a beam, Nate McCollum of Parsons Steel Erectors works to attach a crossbeam for one of the new slopes inside Biosphere 2. The $7 million Landscape Evolution Observatory, or LEO, will help study how water moves through and across various landscapes. “This will be the largest earth science instrument ever built,” said John Adams, assistant director of Biosphere 2.

By Tom Beal steel-and-glass terrarium that was the 40-acre property in June. Weight sensors embedded in the ARIZONA DAILY STAR originally built as an experiment “I’m so excited about this steel frame will allow them to The University of Arizona is assem- in sustaining life in a sealed-off project,” Biosphere 2 Director precisely account for the water in bling steel frames for three massive environment. Travis Huxman said by email from the soil. hill slopes inside Biosphere 2 near When assembled, each frame, Mexico. Scientists will be able to vary Oracle — a process scientists say is measuring 40 feet by 100 feet, “This will be the only place in the temperature and the regular- akin to building three giant ships will be filled with about 3 feet of the world where we can measure in a bottle. soil and weigh about 2.2 million the complete hydrologic cycle.” The steel parts of the $7 million pounds. Each slope will be imbedded Did you know? Landscape Evolution Observatory It is the first large-scale instru- with more than 2,000 sensors and Biosphere 2 has 6,500 windows (LEO), and the trucks that carry ment being built at the Biosphere samplers that will allow scientists and is 91 feet at its highest point. them, must squeeze through a since the UA took over its operation to measure what happens when 10-by-15-foot opening in the in 2007. It assumed ownership of water flows over landscapes. source www.b2science.com

www.B2science.com Work underway in Biosphere 2 on three huge experimental slopes continued ity and intensity of precipitation. “It’s a whole new thing for the Eventually, they will add and earth science community,” said subtract vegetative cover to assess DeLong. the role of plants on runoff and soil Initial experiments will be per- chemistry. formed without vegetation, he said. Planning for the experiment Hydrologists and geologists involved scientists from seven UA want to observe the patterns and departments or disciplines — soil, mechanics of water moving through water and environmental science; the rock, DeLong said. ecology and evolutionary biology; Scientists are also interested in geosciences; hydrology; water re- learning how the volcanic rock they sources; atmospheric sciences; and selected and ground to a homog- natural resources. enous size will weather over time. The UA hopes to attract an array The volcanic rock, from the of scientists — and research grants Flagstaff area, was selected for its — to its new scientific instrument, chemical nature. “It’s full of volcanic which Stephen DeLong, lead sci- glass, and the minerals in it are all entist for the project, compared to susceptible to chemical weath- building an astronomical observa- ering,” DeLong said. Olivine, for tory or a particle accelerator. example, will become clay. It will allow earth scientists to When plants are added, they will conduct experiments on a large probably be desert varieties that scale without losing the precision of survive in unenriched soil, and the a laboratory. climate will be kept fairly warm. DeLong doesn’t rule out colder climates in the future. Biosphere 2 has the ability, he said, to make it Biosphere 2 timeline cool enough to observe effects of • 1987-91 Construction of the snowmelt. 3.16-acre structure and support DeLong said the observatory buildings. will be able to answer important questions about how watersheds • Sept. 26, 1991 A crew of eight work, and how continued drought enters the Biosphere and lives in and higher temperatures will affect the enclosed artificial environ- them in the future. ment for two years. It is being built in the half-acre • 1994 Last group of seven lives site where food was grown for the inside the Biosphere for 6 1/2 participants in the Biosphere’s hu- months when the administrative man experiments. It was called the A crane from Parsons Steel Erectors moves a support beam into place inside decision is made to change the “intensive agriculture biome.” Biosphere 2. Big equipment had to squeeze into the glass structure. direction of the mission. Initial experiments and the cost • Jan. 1996 Columbia University of building the observatory are of New York City begins funded from a pot of money given management. by the Philecology Foundation, the charity founded by Texas billionaire • Dec. 2003 Columbia University Ed Bass, who bankrolled the original relinquishes management. construction of Biosphere 2. • July 2007 University of Ari- Parsons Steel Erectors of Tucson zona assumes management of fabricated, and is installing, the Biosphere 2 and establishes B2 steel. Lloyd Construction and M3 En- Earthscience and the B2 Institute. gineering are in charge of building • June 2011 UA becomes the owner and engineering. of Biosphere 2, its adjoining courtesy of ua college of architecture and landscape architecture. Biosphere 2 buildings and 40 acres of land. Contact reporter Tom Beat An architectural rendering shows how the three slopes at [email protected] or 573-4158. should look once finished in 2012.

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