Conference: Support for a Thompson Field Forum on the elevation history of the Sierra Nevada

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal provides support for the participation of fourteen students and early career scientists in a Geological Society of America 2022 Thompson Field Forum on the “Elevation history of the Sierra Nevada.” The forum will bring together 42 scientists to discuss the topographic history of the Sierra from the Cretaceous to the present. The goal to promote the next generation of research on this subject, which is of broad interest both to the scientific community and the general public. The goal of the forum is to debate whether the range is old, with minimal erosion through most of the Cenozoic, or relatively young having risen from the debris of an earlier range. Both end-member models These end-member conceptualizations have important implications that extend well beyond the Sierra as the disagreements carry implications for the application of techniques used to identify orogenic surface uplift and they have profound implications for geodynamic models and the interpretations of several, globally applied paleoelevation proxies. The conference is timely in that the community needs to examine and evaluate the evidence firsthand and develop better integrated methodologies to test these and other debates. There has been considerable interest in what seems to be like an old subject, but recent scientific advances have provoked controversy and new ideas regarding the age and formation of the Sierra Nevada. The students and early career professionals who will be supported by this activity are actively involved in Sierran research and hence will be knowledgeable and receptive to the nuances of the discussions. They will also get a chance to present their new work for the general discussions. The exposure they will get to high level integrative science will be potentially transformative for their careers. Society benefits from this activity include contributions to STEM education and educator development; development of a diverse, globally competitive workforce; and contributions to the broadening of participation of underrepresented groups in STEM. 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.