Conference: 7th Biennial Structural Geology and Tectonics Forum at WWU

Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project supports the 7th Biennial Structural Geology and Tectonics (SGT) Forum, planned for June 2024 in Bellingham, Washington. The SGT Forum is a grassroots, volunteer-run, community meeting in structural geology and tectonics. Over the past decade, the SGT Forum has provided a venue for investigators and educators to communicate, develop, and advance research and teaching in the discipline. Within the geosciences, the field of Structural Geology and Tectonics covers topics that deal with gaining a better understanding of the history and effects of plate motions, and includes studies of fault zones, earthquakes and seismic hazards, determining the history of past plate motions and their influence on volcanic processes and mountain-building events. The meeting location provides an ideal opportunity to gather interested geoscientists in a setting that has a rich and varied array of active and ancient plate tectonic environments in a region with a large number of geoscientists working together to better understand a large set of structural and tectonic issues. The campus of Western Washington University will be the meeting location, and the meeting will recruit and invite a diverse array of geoscientists to participate and will actively seek participation from local and regional 2-year colleges and other institutions with diverse students and faculty. Early career faculty and graduate students will be strongly encouraged to participate, and we will plan for a rich set of networking and professional development opportunities as part of the meeting. Outcomes that stem from this meeting will include better identification of priorities and advances in structural geology and tectonic problems for the Pacific NW region, improvements in training and professional development of geoscience researchers, and to improve community ties and communication and professional networking among the participating geoscientists and the different institutions they work for. Overall, this will result in better understanding of seismic activity and hazards of the region, and improve our understanding of its history of plate-margin processes, which together will benefit the citizens of the region and the nation at large. The SGT Forum is a platform for building research connections and informal mentorship. Gathering and soliciting meeting participants from a diverse range of professional experience and background will foster greater engagement and participation in geosciences and structural/tectonic research and activities. Three principal goals of the SGT Forum: 1) To identify priorities and share advances in research findings and techniques particular to problems in structural geology and tectonics, 2) To address training and professional development for researchers at all stages, 3) To facilitate networking and community building. For the meeting in Bellingham, they take advantage of local field opportunities and expertise. The setting also brings a natural connection to large research initiatives, and a chance to broaden engagement. The goal is to connect field trips and workshops to talks, poster sessions, and panel discussions across several themes: Deformation of mafic and ultramafic rocks. Activities include a field trip to Twin Sisters dunite; StraboMicro demonstration; research presentations highlighting results from field and lab; and open discussion of research priorities. Subduction zone geology. Activities include a field trip to San Juan Islands accreted terranes; research presentations Cascadia accretionary complex and fore-arc deformation; showcase collaborative opportunities with USGS & State mapping efforts; discussion of SZ4D GeoArray and CRESCENT Community Fault Model initiatives. Collisional and transpressional orogens. Activities include a field trip to Cascades crystalline core, research presentations; discussion: building on recent regional and Penrose meetings. Magnetic fabrics and paleomagnetism. Proposed meeting activities include a short workshop on applications of paleomagnetism and magnetic fabrics to SGT problems, field sampling, lab methods and analytical tools. Research presentations in these areas, and a preview of StraboMag will also be featured. Field geology instruction. Proposed meeting activities: poster session and panel discussion: the future of field camp, field safety and field ethics; StraboSpot demo; tools and best practices for increasing access to field geology experiences and field data. 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.