Oceanography | June 2015
F
rom May 4–6, 2015, I had the priv-
ilege of attending the “Workshop
on Future Seismic and Geodetic Facility
Needs in the Geosciences” in Leesburg,
Virginia. Roughly 100 scientists from the
largely land-based US seismic and geo-
detic communities gathered to formulate
the key scientific research questions that
they will be pursuing beyond 2018, and
to develop recommendations regarding
the “foundational” and “frontier” facilities
required to conduct the science (for more
information,
see
http://www.iris.edu/
hq/workshops/2015/05/future_seismic_
and_geodetic_facility_needs_in_the_
geosciences). The workshop took place
in the context of the National Science
Foundation’s Division of Earth Sciences’
need for community input as it plans to rec-
ompete management and operations of its
seismic and geodetic facilities in 2016 (see
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15076/
nsf15076.jsp). Those facilities include the
Incorporated Research Institutions for
Seismology (IRIS; http://www.iris.edu),
UNAVCO (https://www.unavco.org), and
EarthScope (http://www.earthscope.org),
which
is
managed
jointly
by
IRIS and UNAVCO.
From the outset of the May work-
shop, it was clear that many in the seis-
mic and geodetic communities believe
that pursuing their scientific priori-
ties requires an extension of land opera-
tions into the ocean. Recommendations
include deploying arrays of ocean bot-
tom seismometers for passive and active
seismic experiments, installing seafloor
geodetic instruments to measure hor-
izontal and vertical motion of the sea-
floor, and establishing several long-
term broadband seismic stations to
extend global seismic coverage into the
ocean. Workshop participants also dis-
cussed the need to add sensors—such
as those that continuously record bot-
tom
pressure
and
temperature—to
ocean floor seismic and geodetic instru-
ments. The concept of deploying per-
manent ocean bottom seismographs
to complete uniform global coverage
of the Global Seismographic Network
(http://www.iris.edu/ hq/ programs/gsn)
dates back to the 1990s (e.g., Stephen
et al., 2003). These stations have become
more feasible thanks to technologi-
cal advances that include autonomous
underwater vehicles that could download
and transmit the data from remote sites,
and improved battery lifetimes and very
precise atomic clocks that enable multi-
year deployments. Workshop participants
also mentioned the need for improved
marine magnetotelluric and controlled
source electromagnetic capabilities and
for high-resolution bathymetry to enable
more precise knowledge of site character-
istics for input into crustal models.
These foundational and frontier facil-
ities would support studies of subjects
ranging from subduction zone systems
beyond Cascadia (e.g., see Toomey et al.,
2014), deep mantle structure (slabs and
plumes), magmatic systems (mid-ocean
ridges, underplating), and also “water”
(e.g., cryosphere, sea level, and fault zone
properties). Not surprisingly, these topics
are similar to several decadal science pri-
orities, such as sea level change, the for-
mation and evolution of ocean basins, and
the character of the subseafloor environ-
ment, set forth in the just-released report
of the NRC Committee on Guidance
for NSF on National Ocean Research
Priorities: Decadal Survey of Ocean
Sciences (NRC, 2015, see Table 3-2 sum-
mary). The NRC report also lists geohaz-
ards (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides,
tsunamis) as a priority. While discus-
sion of geohazards research at the recent
“Futures” workshop was vigorous and
was seen as important, the participants
remained focused on land-based studies.
The Futures writing committee is now
crafting the workshop report, which will
articulate the outcomes of the meet-
ing discussions and describe in more
detail the seismic and geodetic commu-
nities’ scientific priorities and infrastruc-
ture needs. The report will be made avail-
able for community input in mid-to-late
June for one month on the meeting web-
site. I strongly encourage members of the
ocean sciences community to review this
draft and provide comments to the writ-
ing committee. The TOS website will pro-
vide a link to the workshop draft.
In this age of multidisciplinary, inter-
disciplinary,
and
transdisciplinary
research, the overlap in science priorities
for Earth and ocean sciences articulated
by the two groups is not at all surprising.
The 2015 NRC report and the Futures
workshop report (final to be released in
One Community
Pursuing Earth and Ocean Sciences
Priorities As
QUARTERDECK