Mongolia 3D

Earth Images Foundation, Oakland CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides initial funding for a 3D High Definition (HD) video documentary about an international group of earth scientists engaged in an investigation of the processes responsible for central Mongolia's unusually active uplifting terrain (the Hangay Dome) and its consequences for regional climate patterns and ecosystems (EAR -1009702). The Hangay Dome in central Mongolia provides an excellent and accessible laboratory to investigate these processes and determine the degree to which mantle upwelling, mafic underplating, lithospheric foundering or plume activity have been important agents in its uplift. The research project as a whole will be the focus of a feature-length documentary film (Mongolia 3D) aimed at Earth-science education and public outreach. Primary and interpreted project data will be available on the web for use in classrooms at various levels. The 3D video format is a new immersive television medium that has emerged from the highly successful 3D feature film format, and Mongolia 3D will be among the pioneering documentary productions fully produced, from inception to delivery, in 3D. This EAGER award will support pre-production planning and research and 3D filming of the geologists' first field season doing fieldwork in Mongolia in the summer of 2011. This footage will be an integral part of the envisioned 3D documentary; the PIs will capture the exciting beginning phase of a major scientific field project which holds great promise to make significant advancements in our understanding of an important process of continental evolution.