Climate Change and Geosciences

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue of Geosciences examines interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere from an integrated systems approach. Earth systems are considered from the perspective of ongoing dynamic interactions that culminate in or are driven by climate change. The aim is to include papers (original research articles, review articles, commentary, and case studies) that take a long-term view in investigating climate and environmental (landscape) change. It would be highly suitable for studies to address environmental sustainability.

Human alteration of the land surface, of material and energy flows, and of Earth's climate has led to the proposal to define the Anthropocene as a distinctive geologic period. For this Special Issue, we invite contributions broadly exploring interactions between climate change (including drivers such as greenhouse gas emissions and land use change) and the geosphere. Potential topics include changes in geologic processes, such as erosion, sedimentation, and soil formation; biogeochemical and biogeophysical climate feedbacks; urban processes; and the role of geosciences in climate mitigation and adaptation.

Papers may focus on either climate change causation or effects, and could be from either a shallow surface (physical geography) or Earth history (geology/Earth sciences) viewpoint. The emphasis will be on human interactions with the environment, so that anthropogenic impacts are central as part of an Anthropocene approach that is ideally explored from Earth surface disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Climate change mitigation and/or adaptation studies are welcome. Studies with a field component are preferred, but experimental approaches (laboratory, simulations/models) and remote sensing investigations are also appropriate. Cross-boundary studies, exploring for example land-air, air-water, or land-water interfaces, would be especially relevant to this Special Issue.

It is recommended that authors approach at an early stage the Guest Editors about possible submissions in order to verify the appropriateness of their potential contributions. If appropriate, an abstract will be requested, and the corresponding author required to submit the full manuscript online by the deadline of 31 January 2016.

Dr. Mary J. Thornbush
Dr. Nir Y. Krakauer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.