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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES AND SOCIETY
Committee on Status and Research Objectives in the Solid-Earth Sciences: A Critical Assessment
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1993
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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418
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 was provided by the W. M. Keck Foundation, the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences' Arthur L. Day Fund and Maurice Ewing Earth and Planetary Science Fund.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on the Status and Research Opportunities in the Solid-Earth Sciences.
Solid-Earth Sciences and Society/Committee on the Status and Research Opportunities in the Solid-Earth Sciences, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-04739-0
1. Earth sciences—United States. I. Title.
QE47.A1N38 1993
550'.973—dc20 92-41781
CIP
Cover art by Y. David Chung. Cover design by Rumen Buzatov. Chung and Buzatov are graduates of the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. In 1988, Chung won the Mayor's Art Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and has exhibited widely throughout the country, including the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.
The cover includes many artistic depictions, both ancient and modern, of the solid-earth sciences. At the center is a subduction zone—high mountains, deep-sea trenches, and volcanic activity. The frog dropping a ball into the mouth of a dragon is part of an ancient Chinese seismometer that indicated earthquake direction. The Mariner spacecraft, used to study Mars, represents our new abilities to view the Earth and other planets on different scales. On the spine is an Armillary sphere used in Renaissance Europe as a way of depicting the Earth at the center of the universe. On the back cover are representations of a mid-ocean ridge, an offshore oil derrick, the center section of an early Mayan calendar, and plate movements off the east coast of Africa.
Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20418
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN
Breakthroughs in scientific understanding during the past quarter century as well as innovative technologies for gathering and organizing large amounts of information are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in the earth sciences at an accelerating pace. Basic research has increased our understanding of the origin and internal workings of our planet, of the processes that modify our landscape, and of the evolution of life during times of quite different global environments. A new approach to studying earth processes, in which the earth is viewed as an integrated, dynamic system rather than a collection of isolated components, has emerged.
Solid-Earth Sciences and Society explores these important new directions in earth sciences research and examines how they can enhance society's ability to make wise decisions on resource development, waste disposal, environmental protection, natural hazards reduction, and land use. The report, which reflects a long-term effort by a diverse expert committee, presents a vision of this rapidly changing field: its scope and goals, its emerging research issues, and its scientific contributions and applications.
We have reached a critical time in the solid-earth sciences. Many in the professional community are shifting their focus from exploring for and developing resources to addressing environmental and social problems on global as well as regional scales. Others are working to maintain the research base and acquire the new knowledge upon which the applications are built. Solid-Earth Sciences and Society recommends priorities for future research and discusses the scientific challenges facing our society. It should prove helpful to the research community, to practitioners, to educators, to students, and to all of us with an interest in the earth sciences.
We are particularly indebted to the W. M. Keck Foundation, without whose support this would not have been possible.
Frank Press
Chairman
THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL IS THE PRINCIPLE OPERATING AGENCY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
TO SERVE GOVERNMENT AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
Prologue
The GOAL is:
to understand the past, present, and future behavior of the whole earth system. From the environments where life evolves on the surface to the interaction between the crust and its fluid envelopes (atmosphere and hydrosphere), this interest extends through the mantle and the outer core to the inner core. A major challenge is to use this understanding to maintain an environment in which the biosphere and humankind will continue to flourish.
SOCIETAL CHALLENGES FOR EARTH SCIENCES
The solid-earth sciences are essential to:
provide sufficient resources—e.g., water, minerals, and fuels;
cope with hazards—e.g., earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, and floods;
avoid perturbing geological environments—e.g., soil erosion, water contamination, improper mining practices, and waste disposal; and
learn how to anticipate and adjust to environmental and global changes.
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
The information needed to achieve the goal of the solid-earth sciences and to meet the societal challenges derives from research that can be described conveniently in a matrix of four objectives and five research areas. Research opportunities can be located within the elements of this matrix, and from these have been selected research topics of top-priority and high-priority.
Objectives
The following four objectives are derived from the challenges facing society in which fundamental understanding of the solid-earth sciences plays a primary role:
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Understand the processes involved in the global earth system, with particular attention to the linkages and interactions between its parts (the geospheres)
Sustain a sufficient supply of natural resources
Mitigate geological hazards
Minimize and adjust to global and environmental change
Research Areas
The following research areas provide promise of achieving the scientific goal:
Global paleoenvironments and biological evolution
Global geochemical and biogeochemical cycles
Fluids in and on the Earth
Dynamics of the crust (oceanic and continental)
Dynamics of the core and mantle
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
The goal represents an integrated approach to the study of the earth system, requiring interdisciplinary investigations of the geology, physics, chemistry, and biology of the whole Earth, because all parts of the Earth are interconnected through geological, geophysical, and geochemical processes, some of which are monitored by biological activity near the surface.
Attainment of the specific objectives may be greatly enhanced by more complete understanding of processes occurring on a global scale. Boundaries between basic and applied solid-earth sciences are artificial.
This process-oriented, integrated global approach should be incorporated into revised earth science curricula in universities and schools. There are also educational opportunities in redefined engineering geology.
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COMMITTEE ON STATUS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES IN THE SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
PETER J. WYLLIE (Chairman),
California Institute of Technology
PHILIP H. ABELSON,
American Association for the Advancement of Science
SAMUEL S. ADAMS,
Minerals Consultant, Lincoln, New Hampshire
CLARENCE R. ALLEN,
California Institute of Technology
G. ARTHUR BARBER,
Minerals Consultant, Denver, Colorado
ROBIN BRETT,
U.S. Geological Survey
ROBERT A. BERNER,
Yale University
JOHN D. BREDEHOEFT,
U.S. Geological Survey
ROBERT G. COLEMAN,
Stanford University
BRUCE R. DOE,
U.S. Geological Survey
CHARLES L. DRAKE,
Dartmouth College
LARRY W. FINGER,
Carnegie Institution of Washington
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
Texas Bureau of Economic Geology
ALEXANDER F. H. GOETZ,
University of Colorado
ALLEN W. HATHEWAY,
University of Missouri at Rolla
JOHN D. HAUN,
Barlow & Haun, Inc.
JAMES F. HAYS,
National Science Foundation
WILLIAM J. HINZE,
Purdue University
RAYMOND JEANLOZ,
University of California, Berkeley
MARVIN E. KAUFFMAN,
National Science Foundation
JUDITH T. PARRISH,
University of Arizona
CHARLES T. PREWITT,
Carnegie Institution of Washington
LEE R. RUSSELL,
ARCO Oil and Gas Company
STANLEY A. SCHUMM,
Colorado State University
BRIAN J. SKINNER,
Yale University
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University
DONALD L. TURCOTTE,
Cornell University
KARL K. TUREKIAN,
Yale University
ROBERT E. WALLACE,
U.S. Geological Survey
DANIEL F. WEILL,
National Science Foundation
ROBERT E. ZARTMAN,
U.S. Geological Survey
Staff
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Assistant
KEVIN C. BURKE, Scholar-in-Residence
CATHERINE MAcMULLEN, Consultant
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Senior Staff Scientist
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BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
WILLIAM L. FISHER (Chairman),
University of Texas at Austin
SAMUEL S. ADAMS,
Minerals Consultant, Lincoln, New Hampshire
MARK P. CLOOS,
University of Texas at Austin
NEVILLE G. W. COOK,
University of California, Berkeley
JOEL DARMSTADTER,
Resources for the Future
DONALD J. DEPAOLO,
University of California, Berkeley
GORDON P. EATON,
Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
W. GARY ERNST,
Stanford University
NORMAN H. FOSTER,
Independent Petroleum Geologist, Denver
FREEMAN GILBERT,
University of California, San Diego
PERRY R. HAGENSTEIN,
Resource Issues, Inc.
HARRISON C. JAMISON,
Consultant, Sunriver, Oregon
THOMAS H. JORDAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ANDREW H. KNOLL,
Harvard University
PHILIP E. LAMOREAUX,
P. E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc.
SUSAN LANDON,
Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver
CHARLES J. MANKIN,
Oklahoma Geological Survey
CAREL OTTE, JR.,
Unocal Corporation (retired)
FRANK M. RICHTER,
University of Chicago
Staff
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Acting Staff Director
KEVIN C. BURKE, Scholar-in-Residence
WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer
BRUCE B. HANSHAW, Staff Officer
LORRAINE WOLF, Staff Officer
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Assistant
CHARLENE ANDERSON, Administrative Secretary
JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Secretary
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COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN (Chairman),
The Johns Hopkins University
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America
PETER S. EAGLESON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
HELEN M. INGRAM,
University of Arizona
W. BARCLAY KAMB,
California Institute of Technology
GENE E. LIKENS,
New York Botanical Garden
SYUKURO MANABE,
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
JACK E. OLIVER,
Cornell University
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt University
DUNCAN T. PATTEN,
Arizona State University
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston
MAXINE L. SAVITZ,
Allied Signal Aerospace Company
LARRY L. SMARR,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University
WARREN WASHINGTON,
National Center for Atmospheric Research
EDITH BROWN WEISS,
Georgetown University Law Center
IRVIN L. WHITE,
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer
CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Associate
ROBIN LEWIS, Senior Project Assistant
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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
PRESENT STATE OF THE SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES
2
PRIORITIES
3
Priority Themes: Objectives and Research Areas
3
Selection of High-Priority Research Opportunities
3
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
4
Personnel Requirements
4
Education Requirements
4
Facilities and Equipment
5
Data Gathering and Handling
5
Funding for Priority Themes
8
Global Collaboration
8
RECOMMENDATIONS
9
Education Recommendations
9
Research Recommendations
9
General Recommendations
11
1
GLOBAL OVERVIEW
13
ESSAY ON THE EARTH SCIENCES
13
Living on Earth
13
Understanding the Earth
15
Predicting the Earth's Future
15
THE EARTH AND ITS COMPONENTS
16
UNIFYING FORCES IN THE GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
18
Plate Tectonics
18
Images of the Earth
19
Variations in the Earth's Orbit
20
Humankind as a Geological Agent
20
GOALS OF THE EARTH SCIENCES: RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
20
Goal, Objectives, and Research Themes
21
Research Framework
22
Priority Theme Selection
23
PRIORITY THEMES: RESEARCH AREAS
26
Priority Theme A-I: Global Paleoenvironments and Biological Evolution
25
Priority Theme A-II: Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles
26
Priority Theme A-III: Fluids in and on the Earth
28
Priority Theme A-IV: Crustal Dynamics: Ocean and Continents
29
Priority Theme A-V: Core and Mantle Dynamics
32
PRIORITY THEMES: OBJECTIVES
34
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Priority Theme B: Sustaining Resource Supplies
34
Priority Theme C: Preventing Damage from Geological Hazards
36
Priority Theme D: Assessing, Mitigating, and Remediating Effects of Environmental and Global Change
37
RESEARCH SUPPORT
39
Federal Funding
39
Industry Support of University Research
39
INSTRUMENTATION, COMPUTATIONAL CAPACITY, AND DATA MANAGEMENT
41
Facilities and Instruments
41
Data Handling
42
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
43
INTERNATIONAL SCOPE
44
ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
45
2
UNDERSTANDING OUR PLANET
47
ESSAY: THE DYNAMIC EARTH
47
ORIGIN OF THE EARTH
50
Comparative Planetology
51
Early Earth Evolution and Great Impacts
52
STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE SOLID EARTH
53
Seismic Determinations of Earth Structure
53
Mantle Convection
56
Core Dynamics and Geomagnetism
57
Core-Mantle Boundary
58
EARTHQUAKES: CONSEQUENCES OF A DYNAMIC MANTLE
58
Geographic Distribution
58
Understanding Earthquakes
60
Earth Deformation
60
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY: CONSEQUENCE OF CONVECTING MANTLE
61
Geographic Distribution, Style, and Scale of Eruptions
62
Flow and Storage of Magma
62
Volcanic Eruptions
63
OCEAN BASIN PROCESSES
66
Ocean Spreading Centers,
66
Intraplate Volcanism: Hot Spots and Oceanic Plateaus
67
Plate Kinematics
69
Ocean Convergent Plate Boundaries: Island Arcs
69
CONTINENTAL STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION
71
Seismic Imaging of the Crust
71
Mountain Building: Metamorphism and Deformation of Continents
73
Extensional Deformation of Continental Lithosphere
74
Evolution of the Continents
75
Sedimentary Basins
78
Continental Collision
78
Growth of the Continents Through Time
80
GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
81
INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SOLID EARTH AND ITS FLUID ENVELOPES
83
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
84
Research Area II: Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles
84
Research Area III: Fluids in and on the Earth
86
Research Area IV: Dynamics of the Crust and Lithosphere
86
Research Area V: Dynamics of the Core and Mantle
87
FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND DATA BASES
88
BIBLIOGRAPHY
89
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3
THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AND ITS EVOLUTION
91
ESSAY
91
THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: A GEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
94
The Changing Land Surface
94
Beneath the Sea
100
CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
103
Cyclical Change in the Global Environment
103
Secular Change in the Global System
115
History of Life
120
Catastrophes in Earth History
127
MODELING THE EARTH SYSTEM
128
An Incomplete Record
128
Intellectual Frontiers
129
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
132
Research Area I. Paleoenvironment and Biological Evolution
133
Research Area II. Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles
134
Research Area III. Fluids in and on the Earth
135
Research Area IV. Crustal Dynamics: Ocean and Continent
135
Facilities, Equipment, and Data Bases
135
BIBLIOGRAPHY
136
4
RESOURCES OF THE SOLID EARTH
137
ESSAY: NATURAL EXPLOITATION
137
ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS
140
WATER RESOURCES
141
Water Quality
143
Water Supply and Use
145
Influencing the Water Cycle
148
MINERAL RESOURCES
149
Understanding Mineral Deposits
152
Crustal Processes and Ore Deposits
153
Genetic Studies of Ore Deposits
155
Models in the Study of Mineral Deposits
156
Mineral Exploration and Exploitation
158
ENERGY RESOURCES
162
Petroleum Resources
163
Coal: An Abundant Fuel Resource
172
Sources of Energy from the Internal Engine
175
RESOURCE DEPENDENCY
177
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
178
Water Resources
178
Mineral Resources
180
Energy Resources
181
Facilities, Equipment, and Data Bases
182
BIBLIOGRAPHY
183
5
HAZARDS, LAND USE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
185
ESSAY: A FRACTION OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE
185
GEOMORPHIC HAZARDS
189
Landslides and Debris Flows
191
Land Subsidence
195
Floods
196
Coastal Fluctuation
196
TECTONIC HAZARDS
197
Earthquakes
197
Tsunami Hazards
208
Volcanic Hazards
210
HAZARDS OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN
213
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PROBLEMS RELATED TO POPULATION CONCENTRATION
214
Engineered Structures
215
Use of Earth Materials
216
Tunnels and Underground Openings
216
Health Risks from Geological Material
217
Agriculture
219
Soil Development and Soil Degradation
220
Waste Management
220
Contaminated Water, Air Pollution, and Acid Rain
222
GLOBAL CHANGE
223
Understanding Global Change
224
Mitigation and Remediation
224
Three Roles for the Solid-Earth Scientist
225
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
225
Objective C: To Mitigate Geological Hazards
226
Objective D: To Minimize Perturbations from and Adjust to Global and Environmental Change
230
BIBLIOGRAPHY
231
6
ENSURING EXCELLENCE AND THE NATIONAL WELL-BEING
233
ESSAY
233
ROLES, NUMBERS, AND BACKGROUNDS OF SOLID-EARTH SCIENTISTS
237
Solid-Earth Sciences and National Security
237
Demographic Characteristics of Solid-Earth Scientists
238
Future Demand for Solid-Earth Scientists
240
EDUCATION IN THE SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES
242
Formal Education in the Solid-Earth Sciences
244
Public Awareness of the Earth Sciences
247
Coping with the Supply of Solid-Earth Scientists
247
INSTRUMENTATION AND FACILITIES
248
Global Positioning System
248
Digital Seismology
249
Instrumentation in Earth Science Laboratories
249
DATA GATHERING AND HANDLING
252
The Digital Data Revolution
253
Improving Data Management
254
GLOBAL COLLABORATION
255
International Collaborative Activities
255
U.S. Collaborative Activities
258
Other Nations' Activities
261
Proposed Programs
262
RECOMMENDATIONS
263
Education in the Solid-Earth Sciences
263
Instrumentation and Facilities
264
Data Gathering and Handling
264
Global Collaboration
266
BIBLIOGRAPHY
267
7
RESEARCH PRIORITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
269
INTRODUCTION
269
SETTING RESEARCH PRIORITIES
270
Planning and Decision Making
270
Individual and Group Research
271
Peer Review and Evaluation
272
Evaluation Criteria and Prioritization
273
PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS AND INITIATIVES
274
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GOALS, RESEARCH AREAS, OBJECTIVES, AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
276
PRIORITY THEMES AND RESEARCH SELECTIONS
277
Selection of Top- and High-Priority Research
277
Priority Theme I: Global Palcoenvironments and Biological Evolution
283
Priority Theme II: Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles
286
Priority Theme III: Fluids in and on the Earth
287
Priority Theme IV: Crustal Dynamics—Ocean and Continents
290
Priority Theme V: Core and Mantle Dynamics
293
Priority Theme B: To Sustain Sufficient Natural Resources
295
Priority Theme C: To Mitigate Geological Hazards
299
Priority Theme D: To Minimize and Adjust to the Effects of Global and Environmental Changes
300
RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION: FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND DATA NEEDS
302
Space-Based Instruments and Programs
303
Aircraft-Based Instruments and Programs
305
Land-Surface-Based Instruments and Programs
305
Sea-Surface-Based Instruments and Facilities
306
Laboratory Instrumentation and Facilities
307
Data Collection and Storage
307
FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF PRIORITY RESEARCH
309
Current Agency Expenditures
309
Industry Support of University Research
309
Suggestions for Future Funding
311
RECOMMENDATIONS
311
Education Recommendations
311
Research Recommendations
312
General Recommendations
314
BIBLIOGRAPHY
317
APPENDIX A
319
APPENDIX B
330
INDEX
340
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Preface
The Committee on Status and Research Objectives in the Solid-Earth Sciences was charged by the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources with preparing a comprehensive and critical review of the current state of the science, to identify opportunities for research during coming decades, and to consider the issue of establishing priorities. The study was supported by a major grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles, together with grants from the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation of New York, and the National Academy of Sciences' Arthur L. Day Fund and Maurice Ewing Earth and Planetary Science Fund. In addition, the following scientific societies provided support: American Association of Petroleum Geologists; American Institute of Professional Geologists; American Geological Institute; Association of American Geographers; Association of American State Geologists; Association of Earth Sciences Editors; Geological Society of America; Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.; Society for Sedimentary Geology/SEPM; and Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. No funds for the study were specifically requested from federal agencies.
COMMITTEE PROCESS
The committee began its work with a series of meetings during the summer of 1988 to plan its approach and to initiate the study. There was a conscious decision to organize the report around two principal themes: (1) basic understanding of solid-earth processes and their interaction with other parts of the earth system and (2) societal issues in which the solid-earth sciences provided significant information in the decision-making process. There was no attempt to organize the study on a disciplinary basis or to review the appropriateness of specific federal agency programs.
The committee formed 21 panels to help synthesize the vast body of earth science knowledge on specific societal issues or related to a few subdisciplines. The panels and their membership are included in Appendix B;
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over 150 earth scientists were involved in this process. The panels, through several individual meetings, produced draft reports that provided a major input to the report. Because of differences in approach and content among the panel reports, there are no plans to issue those draft materials.
In addition to input provided by individual committee members and drafts from the panels, the committee was aware of the findings and conclusions of the many recent reports produced by the National Research Council, by various federal agencies, and by other consortia and planning groups. These are listed as a bibliography at the end of the appropriate chapters. These materials provided a second major input to the committee's deliberations. As many of the committee and panel members had participated in preparing one or more of these previous reports and long-range plans, this experience helped to put the discussions and the possibilities in a broad and informed perspective.
Input from other members of the earth science community was sought in several ways. A questionnaire about priorities in the earth sciences was distributed to the councils of 40 national societies representing the spectrum of the pure and applied earth sciences. A written solicitation for suggestions was published in EOS, and a letter was widely circulated to individual scientists from society membership lists and through chairmen of earth science and selected engineering departments in North American universities. Eighty-three responses were received. Presentations of the work of the committee were made at three national meetings: a lecture at the Geological Society of America in 1989, and focused symposia at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in 1990 and the American Geophysical Union's meeting in spring 1990. Open discussion sessions were held at the latter two symposia. When writing was under way, many individual earth scientists were approached to provide a paragraph or page on specific topics that were not covered adequately through the other input processes.
The committee held a series of meetings and workshops to consider the various inputs and to design the report. Several editorial subgroups were formed; these subgroups held several meetings and prepared drafts of the specific chapters, largely from the source materials. The draft chapters were circulated to the full committee for comment. Based on the comments, revisions were made and redistributed to the committee. At a final workshop, the committee discussed the report as a whole and reached consensus on the various priorities.
The committee's overall approach was to determine the most important earth processes and then to consider what methods and facilities would be most effective in providing answers to the process-oriented problems. The committee recognized that in a field as diverse as the solid-earth sciences research must advance on a broad front. In preparation for, and during the final workshop in October 1991, the committee members reviewed a draft of the report and selected a top-priority research topic in each of eight areas, together with supporting research programs and the infrastructure required for implementation of the programs.
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Solid-Earth Sciences and Society
STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
This report covers the workings of the whole Earth, concentrating on solid-earth processes and their influence on and interactions with human society. The table below illustrates the report's structure, which consists of seven chapters following the Executive Summary. A global overview of the present status of the solid-earth sciences is presented in the first chapter. The second chapter deals with the processes on Earth that are driven by internally generated heat; it includes some discussion of plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, the origin and history of the continents, and where research is going in all those areas. The third chapter complements the second by addressing two processes driven by the solar energy that falls on the surface—erosion and deposition—and portrays how they have operated since the beginning of earth history. It also tells the story of life on Earth and of its evolution as revealed by fossil
Chapter
Executive Summary
1
Essay
Global Overview
2
Essay
Understanding Our Active Planet
Research Opportunities
3
Essay
The Global Environment and Its Evolution (near-surface processes)
Research Opportunities
4
Essay
Resources of the Solid-Earth (water, minerals, fuels)
Research Opportunities
5
Essay
Hazards, Land Use, and Environmental Change
Research Opportunities
6
Essay
Ensuring Excellence and the National Well-Being
Recommendations
7
Research Priorities and Recommendations
Recommendations
Appendix A
Data Base of Federal Programs and Their Budgets
organisms, including such issues as catastrophic extinction. The fourth chapter treats resources—land, water, and mineral deposits, including metals, oil, gas, and coal—in light of the two previous chapters. The fifth chapter deals with hazardous phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and unstable land surfaces. It also describes how human beings interact with the Earth, changing its environment both locally, as in urban pollution, and globally, as in the composition and temperature of the ocean or atmosphere. The sixth chapter looks at how the solid-earth sciences are practiced, where research is going, what demographic changes are happening, the nature of changes in instrumentation and data handling, and the international role of the solid-earth sciences. The seventh chapter summarizes the goals of the solid-earth sciences, the research opportunities, the facilities required, and the priorities and ends with a list of recommendations.
Each chapter is introduced by an essay. At the ends of Chapters 2 through 5, specific research opportunities related to the topics addressed are summarized in a research framework. At the ends of Chapter 6 and 7, recommendations are listed. These front and back portions of each chapter are shaded in the table, and highlighted in the report. Appendix A
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gives information on the budgets of federal government research programs.
There are several different ways to sample the report:
The Executive Summary conveys the essentials.
The Executive Summary and Chapter 1 give a global overview of the whole volume.
The shaded essays provide the essence of each chapter without the detail.
The shaded research opportunities outline important research without the detailed background.
Chapter 7 gives a detailed discussion of opportunities and priorities.
The bodies of Chapters 2 through 6 provide a more technical treatment of the fields.
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SOLID-EARTH
SCIENCES AND SOCIETY
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