GEOLOGIC OPPORTUNITIES IN EARTHSCOPE

The EarthScope proposal to the Major Research Equipment (MRE) program of NSF requests the acquisition, construction, and installation of a series of geophysical (seismic, geodetic, magnetotelluric, strain, borehole) instrumentation designed to serve as a geophysical observatory focused on the continental United States. The MRE request primarily, though not entirely, is for geophysical instrumentation and the effort needed for its installation and operation. Meeting the science goals of EarthScope, however, will require integration of effort from a wide variety of fields relevant to the study of the solid Earth. As outlined in the Snowbird EarthScope Science Workshop report (copies of which can be obtained from www.earthscope.org), EarthScope science objectives range from topical issues of earthquake and volcanic hazard mitigation, to fundamental questions regarding the origin, current structure, and dynamics of continental crust. In addressing this broad range of questions, interpretation of the geophysical signal from the EarthScope "instrument" will involve coordinated studies that include, among others, structural geology, geochemistry, petrology/mineral physics, sedimentology, hydrology, geodynamics, and particularly geochronology. EarthScope instrumentation will provide information on the current structure and dynamics of North America, but to understand how the current situation came to be will require basic geological investigations. The magnitude of MRE investment in EarthScope represents a dramatic advance in large-scale facilities for investigating the solid Earth. Maximizing the scientific gains from EarthScope instrumentation will be aided by allowing the science questions to guide the funding opportunities for EarthScope science. EarthScope thus presents wide ranging opportunities for basic geologic studies aimed at addressing the questions intrinsic to the interpretation of the data returned by EarthScope instrumentation. With an adequately balanced review process across the many disciplines likely to contribute to EarthScope science, EarthScope offers the potential for unprecedented discovery and a model for a future of truly integrative, multidisciplinary research in the solid Earth sciences.