Daniella Rempe and Bill Dietrich’s recent paper, “Direct observations of rock moisture, a hidden component of the hydrologic cycle” is receiving press on the NSF News website, the San Francisco Chronicle, ScienceDaily, and other news organizations. Their study, conducted at the Eel River CZO, monitored rock moisture from 2013-2016 at nine wells across a hillslope underlain by a thick weathered bedrock zone. They found that this bedrock can be a water source for trees even after the soil has become parched during the dry season, suggesting that rock moisture should be incorporated into hydrologic and land-surface models used to predict regional and global climate.

See more press on this study at the links below:

https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244513

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Study-finds-rock-moisture-spared-California-12710035.php

http://criticalzone.org/eel/news/story/recent-paper-by-rempe-and-dietrich-on-rock-moisture-featured-by-nsf-and-oth/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/trees-hidden-rock-water-drought-survival

https://news.utexas.edu/2018/02/26/hidden-rock-moisture-could-explain-forest-surviving-drough

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180226181606.htm