The 2020 MagIC Workshop: Rock and Paleomagnetism through Time and Space; March 2020; La Jolla, CA

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is for partial support to hold a 3-day open community workshop from March 16-18, 2020 at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The theme is "Rock and Paleomagnetism through Time and Space". The first two days of the workshop will be focused on science combined with dissemination of essential information about MagIC and paleomagnetic data. The third day of the workshop will include hands-on sessions for uploading data; accessing, manipulating and visualizing the data from both new and existing data sets; for data model discussions; and for brainstorming on new directions. It will bring together scientists from various backgrounds, perspectives and subdisciplines using paleomagnetic databases to solve science problems across Earth sciences. The program and this support will foster the participation of young scientists, such as post docs and graduate students, and there is an outreach plan that aims to broaden participation. The meeting organizers have articulated a code of conduct for the meeting. The workshop has two overarching goals. First is to update the community about improvements, modifications, and new resources available for users of the MagIC paleomagnetic database. These include streamlined approaches to uploading data, discovering data contributed by others, using online tools for visualization and analysis, and progress in implementing APIs (application program interfaces). The organizers also plan to gather feedback for enhancements to the MagIC database and for improving the interoperability of MagIC with other databases. The second goal is to engage a multi-disciplinary group of scientists in the discussion of scientific questions that require magnetic data to solve problems across fields. Four themes will be allocated a half day each, and are intimately related to MagIC's core activities, as well as linking to other areas where researchers have interests in interoperable data discovery. The research foci are "(1) Paleomagnetism and Improving the Geological Timescale; (2) Tectonic Applications of Paleomagnetism;(3) Variations of the Magnetic Field Through Earth's History; (4) Rock and Paleomagnetic Methods & Instrumentation." 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.