Workshop Proposal for a "Deep Time Earth-Life Observatory Network" (DETELON)

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports a workshop organized around the themes identified by the broader Earth sciences community at several professional meetings during the fall of 2010. The Deep Time Earth-Life Observatory Network (DETELON) workshop will provide a broad community-based platform to develop the concept of an Observatory Network as an initiative for the paleontological and the broader soft-rock geological community. The workshop will craft a white paper around themes identified by forums and by an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee, aided by particularly active workshop participants, will turn this white paper into a preliminary science plan. Finally, this preliminary science plan will be placed on-line for a period of public comment, and these comments will be used to finalize an official Science Plan for DETELON by the Executive Committee. This final science plan will be presented to NSF and to other potential funding sources by May 2011. Today our society and our planet face unparalleled environmental and ecosystem pressures, and we may be heading toward global conditions that are quite unlike anything experienced in human history. Numerous non-analog conditions relevant for understanding possible future states of the planet are recorded in the deep, pre-Quaternary history of the Earth: the past is our window to the future. Understanding these planetary states requires seamless integration of paleontological, geochemical, biological, stratigraphic and other data into a highly resolved temporal and spatial framework that allows development and testing of quantitative models. The most important problems facing the Earth sciences today are centered around complex, multi-faceted systems that can only be approached by interdisciplinary teams of scientists using the best available technology. Such team-based activities will provide numerous opportunities for research training and experience in forefront areas of science, particularly for the growing number of women and other under-represented groups that are currently entering the Earth sciences.