Review of EarthScope Integrated Science (2001)

The EarthScope Working Group has identified a wide range of appropriate partnerships to assist in reaching its goals. The committee concludes that the partnerships described as critical to the EarthScope initiative are entirely adequate; the committee did not identify any major omissions in the possible collaborations envisaged. However, the committee does have a number of comments that may be useful to the program planners as EarthScope planning evolves.

Most of the earthquakes within the United States occur in the western part of the country, including the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico and Texas; the Yellowstone region of Wyoming and neighboring Montana and Idaho; the Basin and Range Province in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Arizona; and in the states along the Pacific Coast—Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. Plate boundary activity is not limited to the United States alone, however, but extends into contiguous parts of Canada and Mexico and the offshore areas adjacent to all three countries. Accordingly, a full understanding of the nature of the plate boundary activity will necessarily involve correlation and integration of EarthScope data with similar measurements in these other regions. The EarthScope Working Group is aware of this requirement, and there are plans to coordinate their efforts with workers in those two countries. The committee endorses this intent.

In addition, although the USArray and PBO installations as currently planned do not extend into the marine realm, the proposed NEPTUNE program to deploy ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) and other instruments (including GPS-acoustic instrumentation and strainmeters) throughout the Juan de Fuca Plate¹, off the coast of Wash-

ington and Oregon, provides an excellent opportunity to view the results of USArray and the PBO in the context of an entire plate. Consequently, the committee suggests that close coordination of the PBO and USArray with the NEPTUNE program is highly desirable. The ocean science community is also involved in OBS deployments in other locations off the coasts of the United States. As these represent a logical and necessary extension of the “Bigfoot” deployment plan of USArray, it is important that coordination between these programs and scientific communities should be effected.

In addition, major earthquakes and deformation have occurred in other parts of the United States, particularly in the mid-continent regions (e.g., New Madrid area, southern Illinois; Kentucky; Missouri— earthquakes in 1811 and 1812) and along the Atlantic seaboard (e.g., earthquakes in 1755 off Cape Ann, Massachusetts; 1886 in Charleston, South Carolina). Although the PBO does not extend into these regions, the proponents are aware that other agencies are in the process of making GPS installations in these regions and they plan to coordinate their efforts with these other activities. The committee endorses this intent. Also, the deployment of seismographs and GPS across the country will depend on interactions with state geologists and other more regionally-oriented groups such as oil companies. The identification of at least some of the special targets for the USArray flexible deployment program will depend on such partnerships.

Landslides are the most damaging geological hazard in the United States, affecting every state of the nation and its island territories.² There is a complete continuum from small slumps to large landslides to extensive fault structures. Many of the rocks or other earth materials involved in landslides are similar to those involved in faulting, and the physical principles involved in many landslides, especially the largest ones, are identical to those involved in faulting. The committee encourages the EarthScope investigators to develop interactions and collaborations with the geomorphology community involved in the study of these significant and damaging phenomena.

Successful accomplishment of the EarthScope education and outreach objectives will also require the nurturing of partnerships between scientists and educators. The success of EarthScope’s educat-

ional efforts (as with any science program) will depend on the effective translation of the science into materials that meet national and state standards and can be used within the context of a classroom or other teaching environment. Educators will also need the training and resources to take advantage of local EarthScope instrument installations, as well as assistance to implement EarthScope-related educational activities. This is an ambitious undertaking, and will require the involvement of national professional organizations of educators, as well as state and local school districts, in the initial planning of EarthScope’s scientific and educational efforts.

Several other large scientific programs are currently in the process of planning extensive educational efforts (e.g., the NEPTUNE program³). The committee recommends that EarthScope establish liaisons and communications with other appropriate programs to build on existing progress in the development of major E&O efforts.