USArray and the Great Plains: A Pre EARTHSCOPE Workshop Proposal (February 2003)

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

0208378 Hubbard EarthScope is a major earth science research initiative that will integrate scientific information derived from seismology (US Array), geodesy (Plate boundary Observatory), subsurface sampling and measurement (SAFOD), remote sensing (InSAR), and complementary geology and geophysics to understand continental scale plate deformation and evolution. Funding for the EarthScope initiative is currently being discussed in Congress as part of NSF's FY 2003 budget. The Division of Earth Sciences has made FY 2002 funds available for projects that qualify as pre-EarthScope activity, i.e. activities that will facilitate or enable the construction, fabrication, installation or operation of EarthScope once it is funded under the MREFC (Major Research Equipment Facilities and Construction) account. Such activities include meetings and workshops, prototype development, site selection or characterization. This award will support a planning workshop to discuss scientific objectives related to the Great Plains coverage of the USArray component of EarthScope. The Great Plains region has had a geologic history that includes continental rifting, marine and non-marine sedimentation, localized basin formation and deformation, tilting and incision of Tertiary sedimentary units in the west, mantle activity resulting in contrasting seismic anisotropy between eastern and western regions, and earthquake activity. To date, much of the research has been done within disciplines and on individual aspects of the geologic history. Clearly there are relationships between past events, and bringing workers together will foster discussion about topics ranging from mantle activity to the Earth's surface and from the Precambrian to the present. The workshop participants will discuss possible multidisciplinary future collaborations to address identified questions and can interface these collaborations with the USArray coverage in the region. The goal of the workshop is to foster interdisciplinary discussion that is aimed at maximizing the scientific gain from the USArray initiative in the Great Plains region. ***