Letters of Interest for Langseth planning

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The Marcus Langseth Science Oversight Committee is requesting Letters of Interest to use for R/V Langseth long-range planning. Marine seismologists interested in using the R/V Langseth can read more details below and download the letter from the MLSOC at:

https://www.unols.org/sites/default/files/Letter%20of%20interest_MLSOC-2016.pdf

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The MLSOC aims to advise NSF on updates for the Langseth regional framework, which was initially released in spring of 2015. The current plan has operations moving from the SE Pacific in 2017 into the SW Pacific in 2018 where currently funded/schedule projects will take place. While we anticipate that the broad regional framework will persist, with the vessel moving into the Indian Ocean and then north along the western Pacific by 2019 and 2020, there is still considerable flexibility in the schedule from mid/late 2018 and beyond. We would like to determine – how far into the Indian Ocean? are there central Pacific projects of interest? what scope of eastern Asia margin and/or northern Pacific work might you envision? are you aiming for eastern-central Pacific work a few years down the line?

For this effort, we request input from interested PIs on possible future Langseth projects that will guide the regional plan. We request very brief Letters of Interest with basic information about future scientific interest that we can use to gauge potential regions for future operations and use as a basis for defining the regional plan for 3-5 years in the future.

If interested in a future marine seismic program on Langseth, please respond to Nathan Bangs, MLSOC Chair (nathan@ig.utexas.edu) with a letter by December 2nd, 2016 that includes:

  1. A contact person for the project
  2. Geographic location of survey
  3. Type of survey (e.g. 3D seismic reflection, long-offset 2D seismic reflection, OBS refraction ….)
  4. Number of days at sea (estimate approximately)
  5. General scientific objectives
  6. Whether PI/team is solely US, collaborative US & international, or solely non-US (all of these are welcome, we expect input from each of these types of group, and there is no preference)
  7. Proposal status
  8. Timing considerations (coordinating with other programs, etc.)
  9. Would you like to present a 3-minute summary of the project to MLSOC at the pre-AGU mtg?

This information will be used to guide the advice that MLSOC provides to NSF about how the regional plan could be updated to best serve current science interests. Our intent is to evaluate options in a public forum so, while we strongly encourage your input, this means that the information you provide will not be kept confidential. We request these letters on a voluntary basis as primary input for regional planning only. They are not required for proposal submission or use of Langseth. The areas, scope of work, and any convergence of interests conveyed in the letters will be discussed in open session at the MLSOC fall meeting on Dec. 11th in San Francisco, CA the day before AGU.

For more information, please contact Nathan Bangs, (nathan@ig.utexas.edu).