Quantifying rates of chemical and physical weathering and estimating rates of soil and rock erosion, dating duricrust surfaces and regolith profiles and quantifying rates of sediment and chemical flux though drainage networks are all demanding and complex geochronological problems. All of these problems need to be solved though if we are to understand the way the Earth’s surface evolves in space and time and particularly how it interacts with the atmosphere and hydrosphere to influence global biogeochemical cycles that sustain life. This theme invites contributions that showcase advances in analytical techniques, (e.g. cosmogenic isotope analysis, U-Th series and U-Pb carbonate geochronology, luminescence dating, riverine aquatic and sediment chemistry and isotopic analysis etc), surface process modelling approaches and calibration and novel applications and case studies aimed at quantifying process rates and chronology within the near surface environment.