Category: SCD Meetings

8-8:45 | Social Hour (Coffee, pastries, registration)

8:45-9 | Welcome & Introduction (GeoPRISMS Office Chair Demian Saffer and Mini-Workshop Conveners Stacia Gordon and Alicia Cruz-Uribe)

9-9:45 | Keynote (Oliver Jagoutz)

9:45-10:45 | Breakout discussions (4 groups)

• What are the outstanding questions that can be addressed?
• How can we better integrate field studies with experimental and modeling approaches?
• What data and meta-data do we need to collect and store?
• How can we make data and samples accessible to all?

10:45-11 | Coffee break

11-12 | Group reports/group discussion

12-12:15 | Wrap Up

Inspired by the success of convergent margin research funded through GeoPRISMS and discussions generated at ExTerra meetings, this workshop will gather together researchers with expertise in all aspects of the arc system on the Sunday preceding the AGU Fall Meeting in Washington, DC. The goal is to gather a broad group of geoscientists that use a variety of different approaches (field, experimental, petrological, geochemical, geochronological, seismic, numerical modeling) applied to different parts of the arc (the subducting plate, mantle, magma plumbing system, supracrustal rocks). The group will discuss what the major questions are that still surround the evolution of arc crust and what tools and methods will best answer these questions. The meeting will also serve to provide a space where early career researchers can network with more senior personnel, and where scientists from a variety of subdisciplines who work on different arc sections around the world can compare and contrast observations. In addition, this gathering of the  arc crust community will make a plan for future convergent margin research, specifically on arc crust. It is important to establish new goals and questions concerning arc crust before GeoPRISMS has fully ended to keep the momentum that this program established.

The format of the workshop will include a keynote lecture given by Oliver Jagoutz (MIT), followed by breakout groups on different areas of scientific interest within the broader arc system: 1) subduction/mantle influences, 2) plutonic plumbing system/magma storage, 3) volcanic components, and 4) supracrustal (metamorphic) components. One proposed outcome of the workshop will be for multiple groups to develop collaborative proposals to NSF EAR programs for research and field forums/institutes, which could then be leveraged for the submission of a larger proposal.

ExTerra: Evolution of Arc Crust
Sunday December 9^th, 2018, AGU Fall Meeting, Washington D.C.

Workshop Leaders: Stacia Gordon (University of Nevada-Reno), Alicia Cruz-Uribe (University of Maine)

On Sunday, December 9th, 34 scientists from a variety of institutions from the US and abroad gathered in Washington, D.C. prior to the start of the fall AGU Meeting to discuss arc systems and, in particular, the major questions that still surround the evolution of arc crust and the tools and methods that will best answer these questions. With the nearing end of GeoPRISMS, the workshop built upon the energy of this program and the discussions and questions that it has opened. In addition to GeoPRISMS, the workshop was also motivated by ExTerra, a group within the Geoscience community that studies Exhumed Terranes. The ExTerra community has had multiple workshops on exhumed terranes in general, and scientific questions concerning what can be learned from exhumed crustal arc sections have been included within the overall ExTerra framework. In addition, a 2016 ExTerra White Paper laid out a broad array of research themes linked to exhumed terranes. This GeoPRIMS workshop was intended to take the ExTerra White Paper one-step further by having a focused workshop for the part of the ExTerra community particularly interested in arc systems.
To start the workshop, GeoPRISMS Chair Demian Shaffer gave a brief introduction to familiarize the attendees with the GeoPRISMS program. Sarah Penniston-Dorland and Maureen Feineman, lead organizers of ExTerra and PIs on a ExTerra Field Institute and Research Endeavor grant, summarized the goals of the ExTerra program and the recent success in obtaining funding for a highly collaborative, multiple PI project through the NSF PIRE program. Subsequently, workshop leaders Stacia Gordon and Alicia Cruz-Uribe presented 1) overview ideas of all the different parts of the arc system (from the subducting plate to the volcanic components) that combined provide critical details on the evolution of arc crust; and 2) some of the major questions concerning arc systems that had been included in past white papers. Finally, to stimulate ideas and lead into group discussions, Oliver Jagoutz (MIT) and his PhD student, Benjamin Klein, presented a keynote talk on their geochemical, geochronological, and structural results from mainly the Sierra Nevada batholith and the Kohistan Arc, and the knowledge that has been gained about arc crust through these exhumed terranes.

The main goal of the workshop was to create an environment in which there was significant discussion, where all participants felt comfortable sharing their opinions, and to provide a networking opportunity for junior scientists to interact with and meet many senior personnel. To do this, after the introductory activities described above, the attendees divided into four groups based on different areas of scientific interest within the broader arc system. Junior scientists were charged with leading the discussion and recording notes, including Emily Chin (UCSD) for the subduction/mantle interface group; Barbara Ratschbacher (Cal Tech) for the plutonic plumbing system; Martin Jutzeler (U. of Tasmania) for the volcanic components; and Besim Dragovic (Boise State) for the metamorphic components. The workshop leaders provided topics for the groups to discuss, including outstanding scientific questions, what data and samples are needed, etc.

Subsequently, the group leaders gave a summary to the overall group. The subduction/mantle interface group reported that there are still many questions concerning what processes and properties control the stress state of the down going slab and the role of volatiles (other than H2O) in subduction zones. The plutonic group discussed major questions about how magma transport, ascent and emplacement mechanism vary with depth and how is space created during the movement of magma. The volcanic group presented questions on how can we estimate eruption periodicity and the processes controlling eruptions as well as what are the roles of pre-existing crustal thickness and the local stress field on the style and kinds of volcanism. The metamorphic group focused on the arc crustal section and asked what is the distribution of water, and how do oxygen fugacity and the thermal structure change throughout the arc crustal section and through time.

In the larger group, two main topics were discussed after the subgroup leaders gave their summaries: 1) whether or not to have a focus site for arc crust research, and 2) the best way to move forward and promote ExTerra and the arc crust community. In general, it seemed like most were opposed to choosing one field locality, as it is difficult to choose one arc crustal terrane that would be the ‘best’ for answering the questions that the subgroups discussed. In addition, focus sites can sometimes exclude and limit the number of scientists involved in a project. To follow this workshop, the larger group discussed several possibilities of how to proceed in terms of moving forward with writing proposals and securing funding for arc crust research. Most were not in favor of a field institute for the same reasons as the focus site described above. Instead, a larger meeting targeting the arc crust community was proposed as potentially the best mechanism to show NSF and other funding agencies that the arc crust community consists of a large number of scientists that are organized and have specific questions and hypotheses that have implications for a variety of different Geoscience subdisciplines. The group discussed that this next meeting could be a CIDER-type workshop that would involve both faculty and students.

In summary, a large number of graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty members were in attendance and were able to network with a variety of US and international scientists at all different stages of their career. Feedback from student participants indicated that the opportunity to participate in the workshop, and in many cases meet scientists whom they knew only through reading their papers, was invaluable for them. Many important questions concerning the evolution of arc crust were discussed, and many of the students, postdocs, and junior faculty expressed interest in being involved in future events surrounding arc crust. The workshop leaders will encourage these junior scientists to take the lead on developing proposals and on being part of planning for a CIDER-type workshop.

8:00 AM | Introduction to GeoPRISMS – Demian Saffer, GeoPRISMS Chair

8:20 | Introduction – Rick Aster (Colorado State University), Workshop Chair

8:35 | Principal scientific targets, geology, structure and tectonics of the western Canadian plate boundary – Roy Hyndman

8:55 | Seismological and general state of knowledge from previous and ongoing work – Pascal Audet

9:15 | Tectonics of the Gulf of Alaska and what understanding structures and processes in the Yukon-BC would bring to understanding of the broader region – Lindsay Worthington

9:35 | Science targets for improved geodetic coverage in western Canada – Julie Elliott

9:55 | Break

10:15 | Science targets for offshore geophysical instrumentation in western Canada – Mladen Nedimovic

10:35 | An induced seismicity program for western Canada, and past and current relevant induced seismicity work – David Eaton

10:55 | Summary of recent Canadian workshops and a large-scale geophysical study of western Canada – Katherine Boggs

•  Critical Zone Observatories – Nicole West
  
•  TREx – The Transition Region Explorer – Eric Donovan
• Presentation – Frank Vernon

11:15 – 1:00 | All
Round Table discussion of next steps. Key topics will include further discussion of science motivation—both from a GeoPRISMS and broader set of perspectives, possible collaborations with broader scientific, resource, hazard, and other communities, funding opportunities, and possible timing and logistical alignments with USArray and PBO post-EarthScope, and marine instrumentation resources.

The purpose of this mini-workshop is to build terrestrial and marine partnerships to complement and frame the nascent EarthsCAN initiative, which seeks to fund ambitious large-scale geophysical studies in Canada across the next decade. This workshop will provide a timely and valuable US-based venue to convey and further discuss relevant results from three Canadian EarthCAN workshops being conducted in 2016, and promote future collaboration between the Canadian research community and their US and international colleagues.

Invited Speakers

• Pascal Audet (University of Ottawa), and Katherine Boggs (Mount Royal University), will discuss the EarthsCAN initiative, potential pilot deployments in the Yukon and British Columbia, and the outcomes of the three Canadian EarthsCAN workshops.
• Lindsay Worthington (University of New Mexico) will talk about the tectonics of the Gulf of Alaska and what understanding structures and processes in the Yukon-BC would bring to understanding of the broader region.
• Roy Hyndman (Pacific Geoscience Centre) will discuss what is known and unknown regarding the tectonics and structures in the Yukon-B.C. region.
• Mladen Nedimović (Dalhousie University) will discuss subduction-related water flux at the Juan de Fuca plate, and the benefits of extending work to the north of the Olympic Peninsula.

Overview

This GeoPRISMS Mini-Workshop will focus on the interaction between past and present subduction, transform faults, and the corresponding lithospheric modification of the British Columbia-Yukon region. The workshop will include a discussion on a proposed ~200 station US Array-scale broadband network and potential GPS network from the U.S. border to the Yukon and Beaufort Sea. The project would leverage ongoing USArray, EarthScope, and other U.S. and Canadian efforts in Cascadia, the Yukon, and southeastern Alaska, and tie together the increasingly well-studied south Alaska and Pacific Northwest plate margins. The proposed initiative would complete synoptic GPS, tomographic, and seismicity coverage of the plate boundary/cordilleran transition zone, when incorporated with ongoing oceanic and land-based instrumentation associated with the Transportable Array, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and field deployments in the Alaska/Yukon region.

Interest from Research Community

We are seeking to build terrestrial and marine partnerships to complement and frame the nascent EarthsCAN initiative, which seeks to fund ambitious large- scale geophysical studies in Canada across the next decade. This workshop will provide a timely and valuable US-based venue to convey and further discuss relevant results from three Canadian workshops (held in Whitehorse, Calgary, and Ottawa) being conducted this year, and promote future collaboration between the Canadian research community and their U.S. and international colleagues.

Scientific Motivation

The British Columbia-Yukon corridor includes a number of world-class science targets, including: 1) a spectrum of plate boundary styles, ranging from Cascadia subduction to transpressional convergence at the Haida Gwaii, to strike slip in the Queen Charlotte Transform fault zone; 2) a complex history of terrane collision and consequent lithospheric modification; 3) transfer of strain away from the plate boundary and its relation to intraplate strain partitioning and orogenesis (e.g., Coastal, Mackenzie, and Richardson Mountains); 4) mantle dynamics of the plate margin and transition zone, including the presence and influences of possible slab window effects, mid-lithospheric detachments, terrane, and fossil slab structures.

Connection to GeoPRISMS Goals

GeoPRISMS initiatives in Cascadia and Alaska along with other recent projects in the north Pacific region have changed our understanding of the region’s tectonics. Instead of simple plate boundaries, complex, interconnected plate boundary zones accommodate plate motion. Strain is transferred significant distances both inboard (as demonstrated by small rotating blocks and deformation zones in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest) and outboard (fragmentation of the Pacific plate in the Gulf of Alaska) of the main plate boundary faults. Reorganization of strain partitioning may occur on relatively short geologic timescales. These new insights have forced a reevaluation of seismic hazard and landscape evolution. Several studies have suggested that the effects of the Yakutat block collision with southern Alaska transfer eastward into British Columbia and the Yukon, but much less is known overall about these areas. A concentrated focus on the British Columbia-Yukon border would fill in a missing link in North Pacific tectonics and examine how the Alaska-Yukon-British Columbia-Cascadia system interconnects and influences tectonics in each region. The complex tectonic history of the region, including a long history of subduction and subduction-related magmatism, accretion and movement of exotic terranes, and potential slab windows, offers a chance to look at long term effects of subduction, and the lack thereof, on the plate margin and continental assembly. Notably, of the five Overarching Themes listed in p. 2 of the GeoPRISMS science document, this region bears on several of them, namely: “(a) Origin and Evolution of Continental Crust; (b) Fluids, Magmas and Their Interactions; and (e) Plate Boundary Deformation and Geodynamics.” Consequently, it is envisioned that the GeoPRISMS community will be interested in potential off-shore and on-shore experiments that would pair with instruments being deployed, and analyses being made, as part of the EarthsCAN initiative.

Workshop Goals

(modified from the goals of the May 31, 2016, Whitehorse EarthsCAN workshop)

• Inform the wider community about the outcomes and findings of the three Canadian EarthsCAN workshops
• Discuss GeoPRISMS-relevant science goals that can be addressed by augmenting existing EarthScope and Canadian networks in the area spanning from the Pacific Northwest (WA, OR, MT, ID) through British Columbia, Yukon, NWT, and Alaska
• Outline possible pilot projects and scientific targets, including on-shore/off-shore arrays
• Build new interdisciplinary community ties, and encourage the interest of new researchers
• Provide a list of recommendations and summary white paper that builds on the work done in the three Canadian workshops.

GeoPRISMS AGU Mini-workshop, EarthScope-type Canadian Cordillera Seismic Array and GPS Network

December, 11, 2017 | San Francisco, CA

Organizers:  Rick Aster (Colorado State University; chair), Pascal Audet (University of Ottawa), Katherine Boggs (Mount Royal University), Julie Elliott (Purdue University), Roy Hyndman (Pacific Geoscience Centre), Michael Schmidt (University of Calgary), Derek Schutt (Colorado State University)

On Sunday, December 11, an international and interdisciplinary group of ~50 researchers met in San Francisco under GeoPRISMS support to discuss emerging interest in a Canadian Cordillera Earth Observation Network. The network is conceived to holistically image broad Earth systems along the Pacific Plate Margin and Canadian Cordillera between Alaska and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.   This initiative emerged out of four workshops and a planning meeting held in multiple locations in Canada over the last year, working with a broad range of U.S. and international collaborators. The San Francisco workshop pulled together interested researchers from across the U.S. and Canada, including representatives associated with from GeoPRISMS, IRIS, UNAVCO, NSF, industry, academic institutions, and a wide range of Canadian institutions.

After brief introductions by GeoPRISMS chair Demian Saffer (Penn State U.) and workshop chair, Rick Aster (Colorado State U.), Roy Hyndman (Pacific Geoscience Centre) began a sequence of overview talks, by outlining the fundamental tectonic questions ranging from ridge subduction at the north end of the Cascadian forearc, to the Yakutat mini-Himalaya collision along the Gulf of Alaska, to the Canning-Mackenzie overthrust in the Beaufort Sea. Hyndman noted the mainly dextral slip along the Queen Charlotte Fault has a recently revealed partitioned thrust component, as was recently illustrated by the 2012 Mw 7.8 Haida Gwaii earthquake which created a notable (but very sparsely observed) tsunami.

Evolution of BB seismic networks (Pascal Audet)

Pascal Audet (U. of Ottawa) presented an overview of existing seismic and other geophysical studies within the Canadian Cordillera, and pointed out the very significant geographic gaps in coverage.    Broadly speaking, the proposed project can build on the exceptional legacy of LITHOPROBE across Canada. However, resolution of crustal and mantle structure across the region, and the understanding of seismicity and deformation, is comparable at best in many subregions to that of the western U.S. prior to the deployment USArray.

Talks by Lindsey Worthington (U. of New Mexico) and Julie Elliott (Purdue U), described the complex tectonic collisional and transpressional setting of the Gulf of Alaska plate margin. The eastern edge of the Yakutat Block is currently poorly defined, and seems to be driving deformation well into the interior of northern Canada, resulting in a (presently very poorly imaged) Canning-Mackenzie overthrust in the Beaufort Sea, and the arcuate thrust belt of the Mackenzie Mountains, 700 to 1000 km from the plate boundary. Additionally, Julie Elliott pointed out the wide range of scientific and societal contributions that could be made by a larger permanent GNSS network in the region, including examining the deep earth, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, industry, surveying/land use, agriculture, and natural hazards.

Mladen Ndemovic (Dalhousie U.) presented on the need for marine seismic surveys and instrumentation from the north end of the Cascadia forearc to the Alaskan Panhandle, as well as in the Beaufort Sea.

David Eaton (U. of Calgary) described induced seismicity in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) along the eastern margin of the Canadian Cordillera and its link with hydraulic fracturing. The importance of elastic stress changes in contributing to induced seismicity in the WCSB and improved understanding of induced seismicity could lead towards improving our general understanding of earthquakes, and to the conditions under which fracking can create appreciable earthquakes.

Kristin Morell (U. of Victoria) outlined the need for LIDAR, paleo-trenching, and detailed fieldwork to define active faults on Vancouver Island.    Nicole West (Central Michigan University) provided an overview of the critical zone, and the need for critical zone monitoring in a range of tectonic and environmental regimes not covered in the US NSF-funded Critical Zone Observatories. It was noted that the critical zone is also the near-surface “geotechnical zone” which defines many aspects of seismic hazard, as well as a general zone of high-frequency seismic wave propagation complexity.

Frank Vernon (U. California, San Diego) and Eric Donovan (U. of Calgary) discussed motivations and benefits of a full geophysical suite of instrumentation at some sites, including for atmospheric sciences and ionosphere/magnetosphere/space physics. Donovan suggested opportunities for collaboration with the Canadian and European Space Agencies through the SWARM program as an example of a multi-national non-traditional research network that could be emulated within the proposed array.

Community discussion after the talks focused on possible next steps for international coordination to move potential projects forward. These details include timely exploration of partnerships that can strongly leverage funding, logistical, and potentially available equipment partnerships in step with the planned sunsetting of current EarthScope USArray and other efforts in Alaska and far northwestern Canada.

The Theoretical and Experimental Institute (TEI) for the Subduction Cycles and Deformation (SCD) initiative is held on the three full days of October 12-14 and is intended to provide a summary of progress made in the science objectives of the SCD initiative (as discussed in the Science and Implementation plan available through geoprisms.nineplanetsllc.com). Applicants do not have to have worked on projects funded by GeoPRISMS. We expect a broad and diverse audience drawn from domestic and international researchers, including graduate students and early career scientists, who are interested in the structure and dynamics of subduction zones.

Funding

The TEI is funded by the National Science Foundation through the GeoPRISMS Office at the University of Michigan. There is no registration fee. Due to space restrictions the meeting will be strictly limited to 150 participants. We will be able to cover on-site expenses (venue costs, hotel expenses based on double occupancy, and breakfast+lunch) for up to 120 participants. Most participants will have to cover travel to and from the meeting. Partial funding for travel is available for students and postdocs. We will not be able to provide dinner on-site but there are plenty of restaurants nearby.

Confirmed participants whose on-site expenses are covered are expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon and leave on Thursday morning.

 Organizing Committee

Ex officio: Peter van Keken (GeoPRISMS Office/University of Michigan)

 Important Dates

 Monday July 27: Applications are invited via geoprisms.nineplanetsllc.com
 Friday August 21: Application deadline
 Friday August 28: Successful applicants are invited to confirm participation
 Friday September 11: Deadline for confirmation of attendance
 Late September: Final meeting agenda is released

Location

The Portofino hotel at Redondo Beach, CA. The hotel is located just 8 miles (13 km) south of the main Los Angeles airport (LAX). Shuttle service is available for transport from and to the airport in addition to cab services.

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Sunday October 11, 2015

On Sunday before the meeting we will hold a student and postdoc symposium which will feature short presentations by the attendees and discussion with the conveners and NSF program managers. The meeting starts at 3 pm. We encourage all students and postdocs to attend and to arrange their travel accordingly, after confirmation of attendance.

PDF

Student Symposium | Sunday, October 11

icon-caret-Introduction to GeoPRISMS / Welcome from NSF | Peter van Keken (U. Michigan), Jennifer Wade (NSF)
icon-caret-right The Incoming Plate & Shallow Forearc | Sarah Penniston-Dorland (U. Maryland), Peter van Keken
icon-caret-right The Megathrust | Jeff Freymueller (U. Alaska)
icon-caret-right The Slab, Mantle Wedge & Arc Crust | Gene Yogodzinski (U. South Carolina)
icon-caret-right Subduction Zone Observatory Discussion | Joan Gomberg (USGS)

Day 1 | Monday, October 12

 icon-caret-right Welcome from NSF | Jenn Wade (NSF)

Discussion (Suzanne Carbotte)

Discussion (Harold Tobin)

Day 2 | Tuesday, October 13

Day 3 | Wednesday, October 14

icon-caret-right Keynote: Distinctly different parental magmas for calc-alkaline plutons and tholeitiic lavas in the central and eastern Aleutian arc | Peter Kelemen (Columbia U)
icon-caret-right Constructing island arc crust: the volcanic to plutonic transition in the Rosario segment of the Cretaceous Alisitos Arc, Baja, Mexico | Sue DeBari (Western Washington)
icon-caret-right Thermobarometric constraints from primitive arc magmas: A review | Christy Till (Arizona State U)
icon-caret-right Interpreting seismic anisotropy in subduction zones: The role of deformation history | Phil Skemer (Washington University)
icon-caret-right Invited: Successes and limitations in the seismic imaging of Alaskan volcanoes | Ellen Syracuse (Los Alamos National Lab)
icon-caret-right Volcanism from slab to surface: The iMUSH project | Geoff Abers (Cornell)
Discussion (Katie Kelley)

icon-caret-right VoiLA: Volatile recycling in the Lesser Antilles arc | Saskia Goes (Imperial)
icon-caret-right JAMSTEC Marine geophysical projects for researches on Subduction Cycles & Deformation | Shuichi Kodaira (JAMSTEC)
icon-caret-right The Tonga-Kermadec-New Zealand arc – Lau back-arc: Future directions | Simon Turner (Macquarie University)
Discussion

A field trip (led by Sarah Penniston-Dorland) will be organized on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday October 15. This will give participants the opportunity to see amphibolite- and blueschist-facies rocks that have been exhumed from a paleosubduction zone. There is no NSF funding for this trip and participants will need to cover all expenses. We estimate that the cost (including transport from hotel to ferry terminal, ferry ride, transport on Catalina, breakfast and lunch; accommodation at the Portofino for one more night) is around $400-$500 per person. The departure time from the hotel (to catch the first ferry to the island) will be at 5:15am. Cost for participants who do not require an additional night of accommodation will be adjusted. Capacity for the field trip is limited and we will confirm participants on a first-come, first-served basis after receipt of payment.