EarthScope SAFOD Management Office for Physical Samples

该基金将于2013年10月至2016年9月期间为位于德克萨斯州大学城的德克萨斯a&m大学的圣安德烈亚斯断层深部观测站（SAFOD）物理样本管理办公室提供资助。该办公室的职能包括管理德克萨斯州农工大学IODP墨西哥湾沿岸储藏库（GCR）的SAFOD物理样品的管理和长期存储，切割和分发授予科学家的子样品，维护采样历史和物理样品研究产生的出版物的数字档案，努力增加参与样品表征的研究人员的多样性。促进SAFOD结果与更广泛的地震力学科学界研究结果的整合。管理办公室与三个委员会合作，负责审查政策并保持有效运作，以满足对主要研究者（PI）用户社区的承诺，特别是SAFOD咨询委员会（SAC）， SAFOD核心样本工作组（CoSWoG）和SAFOD样本委员会（SSC）。管理办公室的主要目标是将SAFOD样品保存在冷藏柜中，并便于继续使用样品进行独立的pi驱动的地球科学研究。作为管理办公室活动的一部分，一个基于网络的测绘和样品请求工具，核心查看器，每年进行维护和更新，以便与科学界沟通样品请求和样品奖励信息。这是为科学家记录、审查和执行样本分布的主要工具。圣安地列斯断层深部观测站（SAFOD）是EarthScope的主要研究设施之一，为研究和直接监测活动板块边界断裂带中控制断层蠕变和地震破裂的物理和化学过程提供了依据。迄今为止，SAFOD最重要的成就是成功地在约3公里深度的圣安德烈亚斯断层上进行了科学钻探，开始了断层带的现场地质和地球物理表征，并成功地从断层的活动部分收集了有价值的岩心和其他物理样本。这些样品构成了正在进行的实验室调查的基础，使用各种技术和方法来解决地震力学的基本问题。这些研究正在改变我们对断层过程的理解，并最终将推进发震断层的建模和监测，以及减轻地震危害。SAFOD的物理样本收集确实是特殊的，具有很大的科学价值。该系列是15年精心规划和完成多阶段复杂钻井项目的直接结果。这些样品提供了一个窗口，以了解在发震深度的主要活动板块边界断层中运作的活动过程。通过对这些独特样本的科学分析得出的数据和解释，为与其他钻探断层带和对挖掘断层的地质观测进行比较建立了重要的基准。由于其独特的特性，SAFOD样品受到世界各地研究人员的高度需求；没有其他活跃的发震断裂带钻探计划，为大量研究人员提供继续进行科学发现的样本。除了样品管理和分发外，SAFOD样品设施还为教育和推广提供有价值的材料，并促进国际科学数据的共享。对这一资源的有效和周到的管理促进了科学调查。这个项目的研究项目最终将通过改善地震灾害的缓解来造福社会。

The funding award supports the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) Office for Management of Physical Samples at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, from October 2013 to September 2016. The functions of the office include managing the curation and long-term storage of the SAFOD physical samples at the IODP Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) of Texas A&M University, cutting and distributing sub-samples awarded to scientists, maintaining a digital archive of sampling history and publications resulting from study of the physical samples, working to increase the diversity of researchers participating in sample characterizations, and fostering integration of SAFOD results with those of the broader scientific community studying earthquake mechanics. The management office works with three committees charged with reviewing policies and maintaining effective operations necessary to meet commitments to the Principal Investigator (PI) user community, specifically the SAFOD Advisory Committee (SAC), the SAFOD Core Sample Working Group (CoSWoG), and the SAFOD Sample Committee (SSC). The primary objectives of the management office are to preserve the SAFOD samples in cold storage lockers and to facilitate continuing use of the samples for independent PI-driven geoscience research. As part of the management office activities, a Web-based mapping and sample request tool, the Core Viewer, is maintained and updated annually for communicating sample request and sample award information to the scientific community. This is the primary tool for recording, reviewing, and executing sample distributions to scientists.The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is one of the major research facilities of EarthScope and provides for the study and direct monitoring of the physical and chemical processes that control fault creep and earthquake rupture in an active plate-boundary fault zone. The most significant achievements of SAFOD to date are the successful scientific drilling across the San Andreas Fault at ~3 km depth, initiating an in situ geological and geophysical characterization of the fault zone, and the successful collection of valuable core and other physical samples from across the active components of the fault. The samples form the basis of ongoing laboratory investigations using a variety of technologies and approaches to address fundamental questions of earthquake mechanics. These studies are transforming our understanding of faulting processes and ultimately will advance modeling and monitoring of seismogenic faults, and earthquake hazard mitigation.The physical sample collection of SAFOD is truly exceptional and of great scientific value. The collection is the direct result of over 15 years of careful planning and completion of a multi-phase, complex drilling project. The samples provide a window to the active processes operating in a major active plate-boundary fault at seismogenic depths. The data and interpretations that result from the scientific analysis of these unique samples establish an important baseline for comparison with other drilled fault zones and with geological observations of exhumed faults. Because of their unique characteristics, the SAFOD samples are in high demand by researchers worldwide; no other active seismogenic fault zone drilling program is set up to provide samples to a large number of researchers for continued scientific discovery. In addition to sample curation and distribution, the SAFOD sample facility provides valuable materials for education and outreach, and promotes the sharing of scientific data internationally. Efficient and thoughtful management of this resource is facilitiating scientific investigations. The research projects from this project ultimately will benefit society through improved earthquake hazard mitigation.