EarthScope-GeoPRISMS Opportunities in Eastern North America


  Austin, TX
May 20-21, 2011

 

Conveners: Frank J. Pazzaglia, Donna Shillington, Peter Flemings, Basil Tikoff

A mini-Workshop following the 2011 EarthScope National Meeting. Note, this is the first of two planned workshops jointly sponsored by EarthScope and GeoPRISMS, on Eastern North America.

AnnouncementAgenda/Presentation archiveRead the report

Description

This one day workshop will be held on Friday afternoon and evening, May 20 and Saturday morning, May 21, immediately following the EarthScope National Meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to bring stakeholders from the EarthScope and GeoPRISMS communities together, along with other interested parties, to discuss science opportunities along Eastern North America in anticipation of the USArray deployment in 2012-2013. This workshop will address several objectives:
Identify key scientific questions and targets both onshore and offshore
Review planned onshore and offshore deployments/experiments (e.g., USArray, FlexArray, OBS, MCS surveys, etc.)
Discuss future experiments and opportunities
Explore the integration of EarthScope and GeoPRISMS science

Outline goals for a larger Eastern North America Science Workshop to be held Fall 2011

The workshop will be held at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, TX, ~20 mins east of Austin, and will include a small number of plenary presentations from researchers working in Eastern North America, to be followed by break-out sessions to discuss opportunities and coordinated research activities. Although funding is tentative at this time, we anticipate being able to cover one night’s accommodations (double occupancy) for ~30 participants, as well as transportation from downtown Austin.

Mini-Workshop convened by:

Frank Pazzaglia (Lehigh University)
Peter Flemings (University of Texas, Austin)
Donna Shillington (Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory)
Basil Tikoff (University of Wisconsin)

Workshop objectives, goals, and deliverables

  • Prioritize scientific questions and onshore/offshore targets that address key EarthScope and GeoPRISMS objectives
  • Summarize previous planned onshore and offshore deployments and experiments
  • Develop a list of potential future experiments and their motivations (including community experiments)
  • Recommendations for continuing integration of the EarthScope and GeoPRISMS communities, particularly the promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration, leveraging existing data, and how EarthScope and GeoPRISMS can work together on upcoming and planned experiments
  • Assess the advantages and disadvantages of focusing community efforts on distinct “research corridors” or distinct areas of study for address the scientific goals of both GeoPRISMS and EarthScope.
    Assess the types of approaches that could be used for focused studies and the desirable attributes of any potential “research corridors.”
  • Develop specific goals and a preliminary agenda for a larger science workshop to be held in Lehigh, PA, in fall 2011
  • Prepare a report on the outcomes of the mini-workshop for release immediately after the mini-workshop to assist researchers interested in submitting proposals for approaching deadlines

Friday, May 20

12:00-2:30     Arrival and Check-in

3:00 – 6:00     Session 1: Overview
GeoPrisms Research Vision in Eastern North America
EarthScope Science in the Eastern US
National Science Foundation update
Related Science Programs update

Plenary Presentations and “pop-up” Presentations by participating scientists

6:00 – 7:30     Dinner

7:30 – 9:30     Session 2: Breakout Sessions to define science objectives and strategies
Group 1: Deep Earth Processes

Group 2: Near Surface Processes

Saturday, May 21

7:00 – 8:00     Breakfast

8:00 – 10:00     Session 3
Summarize high-priority scientific targets

Discuss best strategies to achieve these goals

10:15 – 12:15     Session 4: Implementation Plan for Fall Meeting
Science themes for fall meeting
Key ongoing projects with potential tie-ins to GeoPRISMS/EarthScope science

Define desired outcomes for fall workshop

Eastern North America Margin (ENAM) Opportunities – Mini-Workshop report

On May 20 & 21, a joint EarthScope-GeoPRISMS mini-workshop was held in Austin, TX to begin to address areas of common scientific ground in the study of Earth science in eastern North America (ENAM). Thirty scientists attended this 1.5 day meeting that included members from the EarthScope and GeoPRISMS communities, NSF and other federal agencies, and one graduate student. The transportable array of EarthScope arrives in the eastern United States in 2012-13, and GeoPRISMS has identified ENAM as a primary site for the investigation of rift initiation and evolution (RIE initiative). Collectively, EarthScope and GeoPRISMS research spans the shoreline and in doing so, provides an integrated framework for understanding the orogenic inheritance, rift-initiation, evolution, and structure of a mature continental margin. The associated broader impacts of natural hazards and assessment of the nation’s natural resources, including traditional and alternative sources of energy in the most-densely-populated part of the country are fundamental to both programs. Therefore, the timing is perfect to organize both communities to identify the crucial science targets and to develop or modify the necessary strategies for science implementation.