Workshop Proposal: Analog Modeling of Tectonic Processes 2019: Memphis, TN - November 2019

University Of Memphis, Memphis TN

Investigators

Abstract

This is a workshop award which will gather leading gescientists who use numerical models, which are computer simulation, and analog models, which are physical representations of Earth processes. The workshop will allow researchers from these two areas to work on similar problems and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both appraoches as well as to share their best practices and compare their approaches to modeling. This is expected to encourage the modeling community to gain familiarity with different approaches and to foster new collaborations. The broader impacts of the workshop include support for students and early career researchers, especially those from underrepresented groups in science to participate. In addition, these models are valuable in the classroom setting, and the workshop will incorporate and share curriculum materials. Both analog and numerical modeling are valuable methods of understanding tectonic processes. This workshop will bring together the analog and numerical research communities to provide a forum for discussion and deliberately and thoughtfully provoke discussion of similar scenarios modeled by both analog and numerical techniques. They will run three experiments to benchmark modeling capabilities in different tectonic settings. The gathered research groups will model the same scenario and discuss boundary conditions and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. The workshop will provide an opportunity for researchers to share some of their best practices and compare and contrast different approaches. The workshop will take place November 12-14, 2019. This project is supported by the Tectonics program and Earthcube programs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.