NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this study by the Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. Research supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, under USGS Agreement No. 1434-95-A-01313, and by the U.S. Department of Energy under DOE Grant No. DE-FG22-95BC14823. U.S. DOE patent clearance is not required prior to publication of this report.
Copies of this report are available from:
U.S. Geodynamics Committee
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418
Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
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Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins
WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, Chair,
University of Arizona, Tucson,
Emeritus
ROGER N. ANDERSON,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York
KEVIN T. BIDDLE,
Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, Texas
H. EDWARD CLIFTON,
Conoco, Inc., Houston, Texas
GRANT GARVEN,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
MICHAEL C. GURNIS,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
RAYMOND V. INGERSOLL,
University of California, Los Angeles
MICHELLE A. KOMINZ,
University of Texas at Austin
ELIZABETH L. MILLER,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
LYNN M. WALTER,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
JEFFREY L. WARNER,
Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, La Habra, California
PAUL WEIMER,
University of Colorado, Boulder
JOSEPH T. WESTRICH,
Shell Oil Co., Houston, Texas
PETER KARL ZEITLER,
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
National Research Council Staff
CHARLES MEADE, Study Director
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant
U.S. Geodynamics Committee
WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, Chair,
University of Arizona, Tucson,
Emeritus
DON L. ANDERSON,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
KEVIN T. BIDDLE,
Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, Texas
RICHARD CARLSON,
Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C.
THURE CERLING,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MARK P. CLOOS,
University of Texas at Austin
RICHARD S. FISKE,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
GRANT GARVEN,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
THOMAS A. HERRING,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
RAYMOND JEANLOZ,
University of California, Berkeley
ELIZABETH L. MILLER,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
DAVID T. SANDWELL,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
LYNN M. WALTER,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
National Research Council Staff
CHARLES MEADE, Senior Program Officer
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
J. FREEMAN GILBERT, Chair,
University of California, San Diego
THURE CERLING,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MARK P. CLOOS,
University of Texas at Austin
JOEL DARMSTADTER,
Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
KENNETH I. DAUGHERTY,
E-Systems, Fairfax, Virginia
WILLIAM R. DICKINSON,
University of Arizona, Tucson,
Emeritus
MARCO T. EINAUDI,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
NORMAN H. FOSTER, Independent Petroleum Geologist,
Denver, Colorado
CHARLES G. GROAT,
University of Texas, El Paso
DONALD C. HANEY,
University of Kentucky, Lexington
SUSAN M. KIDWELL,
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
SUSAN KIEFFER,
Kieffer & Woo, Inc., Palgrave, Ontario
PHILIP E. LaMOREAUX,
P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc., Tuscaloosa, Alabama
SUSAN M. LANDON,
Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver, Colorado
J. BERNARD MINSTER,
University of California, San Diego
ALEXANDRA NAVROTSKY,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
JILL D. PASTERIS,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
EDWARD C. ROY, Jr.,
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
National Research Council Staff
CRAIG M. SCHIFFRIES, Director
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Director
WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
CHARLES MEADE, Senior Program Officer
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Associate
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Ontario
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
University of Texas at Austin
JERRY F. FRANKLIN,
University of Washington, Seattle
DEBRA S. KNOPMAN,
Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.
PERRY L. McCARTY,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
JUDITH E. McDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
S. GEORGE PHILANDER,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN K. SILBERGELD,
University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
National Research Council Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
GREGORY SYMMES, Reports Officer
JAMES MALLORY, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
MARQUITA SMITH, PC Analyst
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Preface
On behalf of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Research Council, the U.S. Geodynamics Committee (USGC) examines the health and efficacy of geoscience research programs important for the national interest. As early as 1992, the USGC had identified basic research on the genesis and evolution of sedimentary basins as a crucial arena because of its value for reconstructing vertical movements of the lithosphere and varied environmental changes through geologic time, its impact on understanding the scope and distribution of vital resources of fossil fuels, and its implications for ground-water management and waste disposal. The USGC also perceived that needed advances in the field were at potential risk for two reasons: (1) changes in funding practices by governmental agencies and industry groups have called into question traditional patterns of research support, and (2) salient opportunities for future research entail interdisciplinary collaboration among groups of geoscientists not accustomed to close coordination.
In early 1995 the National Research Council appointed the Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins of the USGC. The panel was charged with identifying and evaluating significant research problems that can and should be addressed by multidisciplinary studies of sedimentary basins, new techniques and approaches that could be brought to bear on aspects of the required research, and the cross-
disciplinary ties and collaborative efforts essential to attack key questions in the field. The panel met twice over six months. The present report incorporates the findings and recommendations of the panel from its detailed appraisal of the current status and future prospects for research on the origins and development of sedimentary basins. In all its deliberations the panel adopted a firmly integrative approach to the subject, embodying the dual vision that studies conducted within basins have broad implications for geodynamic relations outside basins and that studies about basins include insights derived from knowledge of general geodynamic relations in the world as a whole.
Mindful of the severe fiscal constraints currently faced by research managers both within and outside government, the panel's report does not call for infusions of new funding to pursue needed avenues of research. Instead, it attempts to outline strategies whereby available support can be used more efficiently within a context of collaborative efforts designed to achieve more integrative analysis of the dynamics of sedimentary basins by researchers in government, industry, and academia. From the perspective of the panel, professional societies also have a key role to play in fostering joint work with a total impact greater than the simple sum of its parts.
The report is thus intended for a double audience. On the one hand, it calls to the attention of individual researchers ways in which their particular expertise can be applied effectively to outstanding questions in a collaborative context. On the other hand, it calls to the attention of research managers and other professional leaders ways in which a more integrative approach to basin analysis can lead to enhanced dividends from research expenditures. The advice that the panel offers is intentionally not phrased in overly specific terms, which would not be appropriate for a wide audience. The panel believes that the fresh perspectives it presents have the potential to stimulate innovative research design and programmatic arrangements that can improve the net intellectual yield from future research efforts. Because of the centrality of basin analysis to many fundamental and practical aspects of geoscience, basin studies have the potential to exert a powerful integrative influence on future geoscience research. Our report attempts to show how.
WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, PANEL CHAIR