IRES: Research Opportunities in Neotectonics of Incipient Continental Rift Zones for US Undergraduate and Graduate Geosciences Students in Botswana and Zambia

该奖项将支持美国学生在博茨瓦纳和赞比亚从事国际地质研究活动。在这个为期三年的项目中，10名美国学生将前往博茨瓦纳和赞比亚，与博茨瓦纳大学和赞比亚大学的同行和教职员工合作，就大陆裂谷导致的现代构造和地表过程之间的相互作用进行实地、多学科的研究。学生们将研究如何利用断层作用来诊断早期裂谷盆地的发育和裂谷盆地段之间的联系，如何在裂谷盆地沉积物中保存环境变化信息，以及裂谷盆地下方的岩浆如何影响地表水的化学性质。该计划的主要目标是通过为他们提供国际化的实践研究体验来吸引和激励有动力的学生在地球科学领域追求职业生涯。学生项目将发展和提高学生的研究能力，同时有助于更全面地了解大陆裂谷的发展和演化。由于博茨瓦纳和赞比亚拥有东非裂谷系统中最年轻的裂谷盆地，这些野外地点将为学生提供一个独特的机会，让他们在比地球上任何其他地方都更适合进行此类研究的自然实验室中研究裂谷过程的早期阶段。学生将获得地球物理测量、野外地质和全球定位卫星(GPS)测绘以及解决地球科学基本研究问题和资源勘探(例如碳氢化合物、水资源、矿物、地热等)所需的地球化学和水文地质技术方面的实践实地研究经验。通过与博茨瓦纳大学和赞比亚的同行进行互动，美国学生将获得丰富的文化体验，建立个人联系，并建立关系，这些关系将成为未来国际研究合作的核心。与此同时，项目活动将导致有关非洲国家的能力建设。在博茨瓦纳，这些项目的成果将有助于对奥卡万戈三角洲及其脆弱的生态系统和水资源潜力进行可持续管理的长期战略规划，而在赞比亚，这些成果将有助于制定地震多发地区的减灾规划。学生将在校内本科生和研究生研究座谈会以及地区或国家科学会议上传播他们的工作。

This award will support U.S. students to engage in international geological research activities in Botswana and Zambia. Over the three-year project, 10 U.S. students will travel to Botswana and Zambia to work with peers and faculty from the University of Botswana and University of Zambia to conduct field-based, multi-disciplinary research on the interplay between recent tectonics and surficial processes due to continental rifting. Students will investigate how faulting can be used to diagnose the development of early rift basins and linking of rift basin segments, how environmental change information is preserved in rift basin sediments, and how magma below the rift basin affects surface water chemical properties. The main goal of the program is to attract and stimulate motivated students to pursue careers in the geosciences by providing them with an international, hands-on research experience. Student projects will develop and enhance the research capabilities of the students, while contributing to a more complete picture of the development and evolution of continental rifts. Because Botswana and Zambia have the youngest rift basins in the East African Rift System, the field sites will provide students a unique opportunity to study the early stages of rifting processes in a natural laboratory better suited for such studies than anywhere else on earth. Students will be provided with hands-on field research experience in geophysical surveying, field geologic and global positioning satellite (GPS) mapping, and geochemical and hydrogeologic techniques necessary for addressing basic research questions in the geosciences, as well as for resource exploration (e.g., hydrocarbon, water resources, mineral, geothermal, etc.). By interacting with peers from the University of Botswana and Zambia, the U.S. students will acquire an enriching cultural experience, make personal contacts, and build relationships that will form the core of future international research collaborations. At the same time, project activities will result in capacity building in the African nations involved. In Botswana, the results of the projects will benefit the long term strategic planning for sustainable management of the Okavango delta and its delicate ecosystem and water resources potential, while in Zambia, the results will aid in the design of hazard mitigation in earthquake prone zones. Students will disseminate their work in on-campus undergraduate and graduate student research symposia and at regional or national scientific conferences.