Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science (2001) / Chapter Skim
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3. Findings and Recommendations
3. Findings and Recommendations
Pages 89-124
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From page 89... ...
Chapter 2 reviewed the status and prospects of basic research in six important problem areas spanning a wide range of future activity in Earth science: 1. integrative studies of the Critical Zone, the heterogeneous, near-surface environment, where complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms regulate natural habitats and determine the availability of lifesustaining resources, 2.
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From page 90... ...
must continually strive to balance its funding of basic research among (1) core programs that support investigator-driven, disciplinary activities; (2)
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From page 91... ...
Flat budgets and declining buying power within the disciplinary core programs, as well as the sometimes narrow focus of review panels, have made it increasingly difficult to accommodate new areas of investigation within this structure, however.2 The problem is particularly acute in two fields identified as exceptionally promising in Chapter 2- geobiology, and Earth and planetary materials for which major new support is justified. Outstanding research opportunities related to the multidisciplinary problems of the Critical Zone also warrant expansions in the traditional fields of geology and hydrology.
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From page 92... ...
None of the existing core programs have the intellectual scope or sufficient resources to accommodate a prolonged emphasis on geobiology. The most closely related program within EAR is G&P, but it is already severely oversubscribed and is thus unable to adequately cover many important biological and geochen~ical aspects of geobiology.
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From page 93... ...
A successful program would integrate geological, paleontological, environmental, geochemical, pedological, oceanic, atmospheric, and many types of biological data. It would also add key biological perspectives to research initiatives in Earth and planetary materials, discussed below.
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From page 94... ...
. Earth and Planetary Materials Research on Earth and planetary materials has emerged as a field distinct from, but highly complementary to, the well-established disciplines of geochemistry, geophysics, and petrology that are currently among the core programs at EAR.
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From page 95... ...
. Moreover, the scientists that study Earth and planetary materials have been at the forefront of research on nanomaterials and are well positioned, therefore, to contribute to the interagency National Nanotechnology Initiative.6 Hydrology, Geology, and the Critical Zone Integrative studies of the Critical Zone will depend on strong disciplinary programs in soil science, hydrology, geobiology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, Microscopic to Macroscopic.
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From page 96... ...
These efforts are needed in a variety of geologic, soil, climate, and vegetation settings and for spatial scales that range from a few meters at the hillslope scale to basin-wide and continental scales. Recommendation: Owing to the significant opportunities for progress in the understanding of hydrologic systems, particularly through coordinated studies of the Critical Zone, EAR should continue to build programs in the hydrologic sciences.
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From page 97... ...
EAR, on the other hand, is only beginning to recognize the contributions that soil scientists can make to the study of the Earth. Recommendation: EAR should enhance multidisciplinary studies of the Critical Zone, placing special attention on strengthening soil science and the study of coastal zone processes.
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From page 98... ...
Recommendation: EAR should take the lead within NSF in devising a long-term strategy for funding research on the Critical Zone. The study of Critical Zone processes would also benefit from partnerships between EAR and other federal agencies.
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From page 99... ...
The CD program Prods multidisciplinary research that focuses on an improved understanding of the processes governing the origin, structure, composition, and dynamical evolution of the continents; it is thus complementary to the facility-oriented IRIS program.' In the following section, two major research initiatives are considered: (1) EarthScope, a facility-oriented program for observing the structure and active deformation of the North American continent, and (2)
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From page 100... ...
The committee strongly endorses all four components of the EarthScope initiative. To be successful, the major observational elements of EarthScope will have to be backed by strong disciplinary programs to interpret the data within a larger scientific context.
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From page 101... ...
.~2 Finding: Existing programmatic elements within EAR offer the mechanisms to support the basic science required for a successful EarthScope initiative, but only if funding is adequately augmented for basic disciplinary and multidisciplinary research. NSF activities under EarthScope will couple to efforts in other NSF divisions and federal agencies.
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From page 102... ...
. The establishment of natural laboratories has become commonplace in programmatic studies of the seafloor sponsored by NSF's Ocean Sciences Division, where coordinated, multidisciplinary research in specified regions has proven to be an effective strategy for studies of seafloor processes and systems and has become essential to the efficient use of ships and other expensive oceanographic facilities.'3 The natural laboratory concept is also the basis for NSF's Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)
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From page 103... ...
Some sites proposed for critical facilities, such as the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository and the Ward Valley facility for radioactive waste, have become de facto natural laboratories by virtue of the comprehensive investigations mandated by environmental and hazard-vulnerability concerns. Extensive field work at these and over DOE sites, which includes the mapping of hydrological and chemical fluxes in all three spatial dimensions on time scales ranging from hours to millennia, is producing a much more comprehensive understanding of the geochemical processes within the Cntical Zone.'s The scientific advances made in the study of these natural laboratories illustrate the potential for multidisciplinary research of near-surface processes i4The network promotes synthesis and comparative research across sites and ecosystems, as well as among other related national and international programs.
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From page 104... ...
The needs of the research community in this regard have been recognized by EAR, with some success. Multidisciplinary projects to take advantage of natural laboratories have been sponsored by EAR's Continental Dynamics Program, and other short-term efforts have been sponsored under He auspices of EAR core programs.
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From page 105... ...
Although EAR has always sponsored multidisciplinary research through its core programs, the success of proposals that cross program boundaries has depended in part on the composition of the review panel and the assertiveness of NSF staff in seeking partial funding from other relevant programs. Consequently, programs specifically designed to have a multidisciplinary focus, such as the Continental Dynamics Program and the fixed-term special emphasis areas (Table A.1)
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From page 106... ...
The Environmental Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry special emphasis area, initiated with EAR participation in 1994, sponsored a wide array of research within environmental science and engineering, including studies of microbial activity in an environmental context. The research proposed here would build on the success of KGB, with a sharpened focus on microbial agents in the environment.
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From page 107... ...
However, funding for investigatordnven basic research is becoming increasingly inadequate to support the large and diverse research communities that should be engaged in the new era for planetary science. Although EAR programs consider proposals for basic research in planetary sciences, very little EAR Finding is actually invested in such research.
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From page 108... ...
It may ultimately be appropriate to establish planetary sciences as a new core program within EAR. INSTRUMENTATION AND FACILITIES The EAR Instrumentation and Facilities (I&F)
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From page 109... ...
In addition, studies of the Critical Zone will require far more detailed characterization of organic substances than presently available, using techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, and various types of mass spectrometry of organic molecules. · Improved access to geochronometry: There is an increasing need for routine access to rapid, high-precision dating, which is particularly acute in fields requiring ages, especially radiocarbon ages, determined by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)
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From page 110... ...
Full technician costs are rarely funded through the disciplinary programs after this period. As a result, EAR principal investigators have been forced to seek ongoing support from other sources, such as contract work or institutional discretionary funds, with mixed success.
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From page 111... ...
24Research Opportunities in Low-Temperature and Environmental Geochemistry, results of a workshop held in Boston, Massachusetts, June 5, 1999. 25Sedimenta~y Systems in Space and Time: High Priority NSF Research Initiatives in Sedimentary Geology, results of a workshop held in Boulder, Colorado, March 27-29, 1999.
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From page 112... ...
A 1996 workshop26 challenged the Geosciences Directorate to promote vigorously educational activities within its research program and to enhance its partnership with EHR, beginning with helping geoscientists understand Geoscience Education: A Recommended Strategy, results of a workshop held in Arlington, Virginia, August 29-3O, 1996. The report outlines a strategy for improving outreach to teachers and other corornunities, enhancing university-level training with emphasis on links to nonresearch needs, and facilitating the educational value of ongoing programs ranging from research consortia to undergraduate institutions.
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From page 113... ...
build in support for education that complements, rather than competes with, support for basic science. Training in the Earth Sciences Earth science training is becoming increasingly demanding.
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From page 114... ...
Program,29 are key to attracting and retaining the best students. A plausible strategy for encouraging broad-based training is for EAR to establish a program of research Paining grants, either on its own or win over science divisions, to provide undergraduates and graduate students win access to alternative research environments.30 Training grants available through over NSF divisions could serve as models for art EAR program.
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From page 115... ...
Field programs at other agencies, such as the USGS and USDA summer intern programs or the Educational Component of the National Mapping Program, could serve as alternative models for establishing and funding graduate and undergraduate field programs. The Earth Science Natural Laboratories recommended by the
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From page 116... ...
EAR should take advantage of the broad appeal of field work, its modest cost, and its ability to capture the enthusiasm and research effort across a wide range of institutions by providing sufficient funding for graduate and undergraduate field work. Education is intrinsic to all basic research, but there is no one-size-fits-all formula for enhancing the educational component.
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From page 117... ...
The committee observes that interdivisional partnerships are most effective when backed by well-defined scientific communities within each of the participating NSF divisions, from which proposals can be solicited and membership drawn for topical workshops and proposal review panels. If enacted, the committee's recommendations regarding core programs will help to franchise several disciplinary communities within EAR, including geobiology, Earth and planetary materials, soil science, and coastal zone studies.
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From page 118... ...
These failures suggest that EAR should be more aggressive in fostering substantial collaborations between Earth scientists and the information technology research community. In some cases, the disciplinary strength and community organization within EAR are already sufficient to engage other NSF divisions, and the need is primarily for NSF managers to provide a structure for interdivisional collaborations.
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From page 119... ...
Indeed, the deep intellectual connections made through fundamental research furnish very effective pathways for broadening communities beyond the narrow specialties of individual researchers and focused research groups. This perspective motivates the committee's optimism that a rich spectrum of collaborations among geobiologists, geochemists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, and soil scientists on problems of the Critical Zone will lead to practical benefits for society.
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From page 120... ...
National Seismograph Network to the higher-performance standards of the NSF-sponsored GSN, which will benefit USGS in its mission of monitoring earthquakes, while the ANSS deployment plan calls for upgrading regional seismic networks that will assist the EarthScope community in imaging the continental crust and upper mantle at higher resolution.
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From page 121... ...
Core Programs. Geobiology Earth & Planetary Materials Hydrology Instrumentation and Facilities Major Initiatives.
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From page 122... ...
would bring hydrologic sciences in line with other disciplinary core programs and the research opportunities available to this field. · The community that does basic research on Earth and planetary materials is also well defined and serves the full breadth of the geosciences, though it is smaller than the major Earn science disciplines.
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From page 123... ...
For example, the Geosciences Directorate's contribution to the IGERT program alone was $10 million in FY 1999. The committee takes no position on how these funds would be allocated between EAREducation and Human Resources and other core programs.
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