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Program NewsMarine Geology and GeophysicsMARGINSThe third MARGINS competition was held in May 2001. This is the first funding cycle in which proposals for all four MARGINS initiatives (Seismogenic Zone, Subduction Factory, Rifting and Deformation of Continental Lithosphere, and Source to Sink) were considered together. A total of 44 proposals were reviewed by a joint Earth and Ocean Sciences panel. Of these seven proposals were deemed to be worthy of funding (5 SubFac, 1 Continental Rifting, 1 S2S). In addition, 1 proposal in the SubFac area held over for funding from last cycle is also planned to be funded in this cycle. The abstracts of funded proposals can be viewed on the MARGINS website at: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/margins. The next deadline for MARGINS proposal is November 1st, 2001 with a panel and decision date in March 2002. The MARGINS community held a workshop in Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula in March 2001 to discuss the scientific issues surrounding the Red Sea area, the second chosen “focus” site for “Rifting and Deformation of Continental Lithosphere” initiative. An additional purpose of the meeting was to bring together scientists from the countries surrounding the Red Sea so that joint research strategies (all of the marine geological research in this area will be in someone’s territorial waters) can be chalked out at a later stage. MARGINS is also holding a workshop in San Jose, Costa Rica, in July 2001 to discuss the results and further research planning of the SEIZE and SubFac focus site of Central America in a coordinated manner. This workshop will also bring together scientists from the focus study area. RIDGEThe RIDGE 2000 Science Plan, Planetary Renewal and Life in the Deep Ocean, has recently been published and is available at http://ridge.oce.orst.edu. Dave Christie, the RIDGE Steering Committee, the participants in the planning workshops, and others who contributed, outline a very ambitious future. There has been considerable evolution in RIDGE science in the past decade. While many of the original questions are not yet completely answered, the new questions demonstrate that much has been learned. Earth System HistoryOver the years, ESH has served a growing community of researchers engaged in an energetic and evolving research effort with the goal of understanding natural variability in the Earth’s system beyond the instrumental record and across geologic time, especially in terms of climate-related processes. To achieve these goals, ESH emphasizes interdisciplinary and coupled research to understand the mechanisms, processes, and linkages between critical elements of the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and terrestrial systems. Accordingly, the ESH program supports research in quantification and development of biotic, physical, and geochemical proxy indicators, geochronological techniques, and statistical analysis relevant to ESH goals. Furthermore, scientific questions in ESH are organized within six broadly-defined Areas of Special Interest that include:
The most recent ESH Program announcement can be viewed on the NSF web site at https://www.nsf.gov/ pubs/2000/nsf0011/nsf0011.html. In an effort to ensure that ESH reflects the state-of-theartin science and addresses important scientific questions, NSF, through the ESH secretariat, requested comments on the future intellectual focus of ESH research. By the time of publication of this newsletter, it is expected that these comments will have been presented to the ESH Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will then analyze the comments and provide NSF with recommendations based on community input. Personnel NewsWe bid farewell to Lisa Crowder in April as she moved to a position as Yeoman on the JOIDES Resolution. Lisa was a tremendous asset to the Marine Geology and Geophysics program for the last two years and will be missed. However, we are delighted that she remains with the broader MG&G community. Bil Haq (bhaq@nsf.gov) |
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