US-Malawi Planning Visit: Developing a Multidisciplinary, Multinational Study of Continental Rifting, Seismicity and Volcanism Around Northern Lake Malawi

美国-马拉维计划访问：对马拉维北湖北部周围的大陆裂谷、地震活动和火山活动开展多学科、跨国研究

• 批准号: 0949559
• 负责人: Donna Shillington
• 金额: $ 2.34万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0949559&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: US; Malawi; Planning; Visit; Developing

Intellectual Merit: The ~2500-km-long East Africa Rift system is one of the best examples of active rifting of a continent in the world. Volcanism and seismicity associated with rifting pose a substantial risk to people who live in or near the rift valley. We are developing a multidisciplinary, multinational project to investigate the region around northern Lake Malawi in the southern part of the East Africa Rift system. We recently submitted a pre-proposal for this project to Continental Dynamics (1 April 2009), and plan to submit a full proposal for the 15 November 2009 deadline. Our project would involve scientists and students from the U.S., Malawi and Tanzania, and we plan to further contribute to scientific infrastructure and education in this region through AfricaArray. Our proposed project would involve imaging of the sediments, crust and mantle lithosphere around northern Lake Malawi, monitoring of surface deformation and seismicity over a 2-4 year time period, and geochemical analysis of volcanic rocks from a magmatic province at the north end of the lake. This powerful combination of temporal and spatial constraints will enable us to obtain unique insights into magmatic and tectonic processes throughout the lithosphere during early rifting. These datasets would also be applied to geohazard characterization and mitigation. We propose a planning trip for four US scientists to visit Malawi in order to strengthen relationships with foreign scientists and to solve key logistical challenges. US scientists will meet with Dr. Leonard Kalindekafe, Director of the Geological Survey of Malawi, and Mrs. Lostina Chapola, Head of the Geography Department at the Catholic University of Malawi, as well as other scientists and officials in relevant government ministries. Together, they will make specific plans for the full proposal, which will be submitted in November. Our ambitious project also poses several logistical challenges, particularly the identification of an appropriate vessel to deploy geophysical instrumentation and acquire data within the lake. A significant portion of the trip will be spent assessing academic and industry vessels. These particular PI?s from the Continental Dynamics proposal will be most closely involved in different aspects of the ?marine? portion of the experiment, and are thus needed to assess port facilities and ships. Finally, we propose to visit the field region to assess different strategies for deploying onshore instruments in the rugged terrain around the lake, inspect port facilities at Nkhata Bay and Chilumba, and acquire preliminary data for planning purposes. We plan to re-occupy two GPS monuments in our proposed study area (which were installed and used for data acquisition in 1997) for two to three days.Broader Impacts: Magmatism and seismicity associated with extension in this part of the Western Rift pose a serious hazard to surrounding communities in Malawi and Tanzania, particularly those residing near the Rungwe volcanic province. Our proposed Continental Dynamics program will provide unprecedented details on seismicity and present-day deformation in this region, which can inform hazard assessment and mitigation. Additionally, our study complements other active research and outreach efforts in this region, such as the Lake Malawi Drilling Project; it would provide a broader tectonic context for results on recent climate changes and the evolution of early humans. Our project will also contribute to scientific education and research in this region by augmenting AfricaArray (www.africaarray.org). The proposed program includes support for graduate students from Malawi and Tanzania, who will participate in acquiring data, evaluating geo-hazards, and analyzing the resulting datasets. Data from our temporary deployment will complement permanent and temporary AfricaArray stations in the south EARS, enhancing the value of both datasets. The team of US scientists contains a mixture of senior and junior scientists with a spread of expertise and varying levels of experience working in Africa. A planning trip would make it possible for them to gain local knowledge and strengthen collaborations in Malawi in order to develop a viable plan for a major investigation in this region. The longer-term impact of this trip is that it provides the opportunity for several scientists, including two early-career scientists, who have never worked in Africa to develop the contacts and familiarity necessary to plan and execute future scientific and educational programs here.

知识价值：约2500公里长的东非裂谷系是世界上大陆活动裂谷的最好例子之一。与裂谷有关的火山活动和地震活动对居住在裂谷或裂谷附近的人们构成了巨大的危险。我们正在开发一个多学科的多国项目，以调查东非裂谷系统南部马拉维湖北部周围的地区。我们最近向大陆动力公司提交了该项目的预提案（2009年4月1日），并计划在2009年11月15日截止日期前提交一份完整的提案。我们的项目将包括来自美国、马拉维和坦桑尼亚的科学家和学生，我们计划通过AfricaArray进一步为该地区的科学基础设施和教育做出贡献。我们提出的项目将包括对马拉维湖北部的沉积物、地壳和地幔岩石圈进行成像，监测2-4年时间内的地表变形和地震活动，并对湖北端岩浆省的火山岩进行地球化学分析。这种时间和空间约束的强大组合将使我们能够对早期裂陷期间整个岩石圈的岩浆和构造过程获得独特的见解。这些数据集还将应用于地质灾害的特征和减轻。我们建议四名美国科学家计划访问马拉维，以便加强与外国科学家的关系，并解决关键的后勤挑战。美国科学家将会见马拉维地质调查局局长Leonard Kalindekafe博士和马拉维天主教大学地理系主任Lostina Chapola夫人，以及其他科学家和相关政府部门的官员。他们将共同为完整的提案制定具体计划，并将于11月提交。我们雄心勃勃的项目也面临着一些后勤方面的挑战，特别是确定一艘合适的船只来部署地球物理仪器并在湖中获取数据。这次旅行的很大一部分将用于评估学术和工业船只。这些特定的PI？来自大陆动力公司的建议将最密切地涉及海洋的不同方面。部分试验，因此需要对港口设施和船舶进行评估。最后，我们建议访问现场区域，以评估在湖周围崎岖地形中部署陆上仪器的不同策略，检查Nkhata湾和Chilumba的港口设施，并为规划目的获取初步数据。我们计划在我们建议的研究区域重新占用两个GPS纪念碑（1997年安装并用于数据采集）两到三天。更广泛的影响：与西裂谷延伸有关的岩浆活动和地震活动对马拉维和坦桑尼亚的周边社区，特别是居住在Rungwe火山省附近的社区构成严重威胁。我们提出的大陆动力学计划将提供有关该地区地震活动和现今变形的前所未有的详细信息，这可以为灾害评估和减灾提供信息。此外，我们的研究补充了该地区其他积极的研究和推广工作，如马拉维湖钻井项目；它将为近期气候变化和早期人类进化的结果提供更广泛的构造背景。我们的项目还将通过扩大AfricaArray （www.africaarray.org）为该地区的科学教育和研究作出贡献。拟议的项目包括支持来自马拉维和坦桑尼亚的研究生，他们将参与获取数据、评估地质灾害和分析产生的数据集。我们临时部署的数据将补充ear南部的永久和临时非洲阵列站，从而提高这两个数据集的价值。这个由美国科学家组成的团队中既有资深科学家，也有初级科学家，他们拥有广泛的专业知识和在非洲工作的不同水平的经验。规划旅行将使他们有可能获得当地知识并加强马拉维的合作，以便为在该区域进行重大调查制定可行的计划。这次旅行的长期影响是，它为几位科学家提供了机会，其中包括两位从未在非洲工作过的早期职业科学家，他们建立了必要的联系和熟悉度，以便在这里规划和执行未来的科学和教育项目。