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

IRES：为博茨瓦纳和赞比亚的美国本科生和研究生地球科学研究生提供早期大陆裂谷带新构造学研究机会

• 批准号: 0644836
• 负责人: Estella Atekwana
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Oklahoma State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-10-01 至 2009-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0644836&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Research; Opportunities; Neotectonics; Incipient

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.

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。 在为期三年的项目中，有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龄人和教职员工一起工作，从而对由于大陆裂开而导致的构造和表面过程之间的相互作用进行基于现场的，多学科的研究。学生将研究如何使用断层来诊断早期裂谷盆地的发展和裂谷盆地段的联系，环境变化信息如何保存在裂谷盆地沉积物中，以及裂谷盆以下岩浆如何影响地表水化学特性。该计划的主要目标是通过为他们提供国际动手研究经验来吸引和刺激积极的学生从事地球科学的职业。学生项目将发展和增强学生的研究能力，同时更加完整地了解大陆裂谷的发展和演变。由于博茨瓦纳和赞比亚在东非裂谷系统中拥有最年轻的裂谷盆地，因此野外地点将为学生提供一个独特的机会来研究与地球上其他任何地方更适合此类研究的天然实验室中裂谷过程的早期阶段。将为学生提供地球物理测量，现场地质和全球定位卫星（GPS）映射以及地球化学和水文地质技术的动手实地研究经验，以解决地球科学中的基础研究问题所需的必要条件，以及用于资源探索的基础研究（例如，水上资源，水资源，水资源，矿物质，地球疗法等）。通过与博茨瓦纳大学和赞比亚大学的同伴互动，美国学生将获得丰富的文化经验，建立个人联系并建立关系，这将成为未来国际研究合作的核心。同时，项目活动将导致涉及的非洲国家的能力建设。在博茨瓦纳，这些项目的结果将使奥卡万戈三角洲的可持续管理及其精致的生态系统和水资源潜力有益于长期战略计划，而在赞比亚，结果将有助于设计地震易于地震的危险区域。学生将在校园本科和研究生研究研讨会以及区域或国家科学会议上传播他们的工作。