Conference: GLOW: Support for the 2023 Penrose Conference on the role of outburst floods in Earth and planetary evolution

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant provides funding to support early career scientists and those who are underrepresented in the geosciences to attend and participate in the Geological Society of America Penrose Conference, “The Role of Outburst Floods in Earth and Planetary Evolution,” held at Camp Delany Washington State Park in Coulee City, WA, on June 5-9, 2023. Outburst floods refer to very large flooding events, caused by breaches of impounded water bodies, that inundate landscapes with flow rates that may substantially exceed what is possible for the largest meteorological floods. Outburst floods are also well documented on Mars. This Penrose Conference enables new collaborations and understanding across a diverse set of researchers seeking to advance understanding of outburst floods. In addition to supporting participation by early career scientists and those who are underrepresented in the geosciences, NSF support enables professional development for participants through a structured mentoring opportunity that matches early career scientists with senior scientists. The objective of this Penrose Conference is to bring together a diverse community of scholars to discuss and debate the state-of-the-art and chart the future of outburst flood science. The conference is focused on four linked themes: 1) Channeled Scabland and the Missoula Floods; 2) universal occurrence of outburst floods on Earth and other planets; 3) mechanics of outburst flood processes; and 4) broader Earth system and societal implications of outburst floods. As such, this Geoscience Lessons for and from Other Worlds (GLOW) conference award supports the study of other worlds as a way to broaden and deepen understanding of the Earth and its evolution, as well as the use of geoscience knowledge to understand the environments of other worlds. The unique gathering of scientists focused on terrestrial and planetary outburst floods at this Penrose Conference fosters interactions that promote the cross-fertilization of concepts and lessons learned from studies of both terrestrial and planetary outburst floods. 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.