Findings and Recommendations - Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science - page 91

American continent. Similarly, the greatly enhanced observations of the plate
boundary deformation field provided by PBO should be complemented by
substantial theoretical and experimental modeling efforts, as well as field
investigations of active deformation in various settings. In particular, a major
paleoseismology effort will be needed to extend the temporal range of earthquake
observations into the geological past.
Many of these problems can, with adequate new funding, be addressed
through existing EAR programs, including the CD core program, the interagency
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), and two special
emphasis areas—Active Tectonics (AT) and Cooperative Studies of the Earth's
Deep Interior (CSEDI). 12
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. The offshore component of EarthScope will
require the deployment of temporary arrays of ocean-bottom seismometers
( Figure 2.15 ), requiring the involvement of OCE, which currently funds these
facilities. In turn, data from the offshore components of USArray and PBO will
contribute to the Continental Margins Research (MARGINS) program in OCE.
Research on earthquake hazards will support NSF's mission in NEHRP, including
earthquake-related programs in the Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems in
the Directorate of Engineering. All four components of EarthScope will
contribute substantially to efforts by the USGS to assess earthquake and volcanic
hazards, creating excellent opportunities for interagency cooperation. The InSAR
component, which requires new satellite-based observing systems, should be the
basis for a substantial cooperative program between NSF and NASA.
Natural Laboratories
Some of the processes operating in the solid Earth can be isolated and
studied in the laboratory under controlled conditions, but this approach is
12 The committee notes that the excellent, community-generated science plans that led to
the AT and CSEDI programs anticipated essentially all of the major scientific goals of the
EarthScope initiative.