Developing more realistic animations of subduction zone processes.

开发俯冲带过程的更逼真的动画。本项目正在开发板块构造中俯冲过程的逼真数字动画，将广泛用于教育，研究和科学界。俯冲过程包括50-100英里厚的大洋岩石圈板块在海沟处的下沉，以及这些物质返回到地幔深处。 俯冲是在固体地球表面下进行的所有过程中最重要的一个。俯冲带影响数千英里的海岸线，并延伸到地球深处数百英里。 俯冲使构造板块移动的同时，它影响社会。 俯冲带的好处包括形成石油、天然气和矿物的经济矿床。 俯冲的危险包括地震、海啸和火山爆发。尽管俯冲的重要性，现有的俯冲带过程的动画未能捕捉到我们的理解，从最近的NSF支持的地球科学研究的进展。 为了国家利益，这些进步应该简单明了地向学生、公众和其他科学家解释。 由于俯冲是一个动态系统，它需要动画来显示各种组件和过程如何相互作用。现有的俯冲带过程的动画是过时的，并不反映我们目前对这一重要过程的理解。 它们完全不准确。由于缺乏俯冲和相关过程如何运作的逼真动画，造成了NSF资助的科学，科学教育和公众对这一基本地球过程的理解之间的巨大差距。该项目涉及俯冲带过程的主要学者，地球科学研究生，还有两名本科生就读于德州大学达拉斯艺术与人文学院的艺术与技术课程（UTD-ATEC）创建一个逼真的俯冲动画，反映了我们目前对这一复杂过程的理解，这一过程是由NSF赞助的地球科学研究和有针对性的地球科学倡议MARGINS和GeoPRISMS产生的。UTD-ATEC是德克萨斯州唯一的综合学位授予计划，旨在探索和促进计算机科学和工程与创意艺术和人文学科的融合。俯冲带动画的努力是配对的学生在现代数字技术培训与学者谁知道科学在创造一个非常大的和重要的过程逼真的动画。本科生每周工作10小时，与PI和一名研究生一起制作动画。正在国家会议上征求地球科学研究人员和教育工作者的反馈意见。完成后，动画将被张贴在YouTube上，也将由至少一个教科书出版商分发，作为他们的补充在线产品的一部分，为广泛的本科教科书（例如，自然地质学、历史地质学、海洋学、自然灾害、自然地理学等）

Developing more realistic animations of subduction zone processes.This project is developing a realistic digital animation of the subduction process in plate tectonics that will be broadly used by education, research, and science communities. Subduction processes involve the sinking of 50-100 mile thick slabs of oceanic lithosphere at oceanic trenches and the return of this material to the deep mantle. Subduction is the single most important of all of the processes going on beneath the surface of the solid Earth. Subduction zones affect thousands of miles of coastline and extend hundreds of miles deep into the Earth. Subduction makes the tectonic plates move at the same time that it impacts society. Benefits of subduction zones include formation of economic deposits of oil, gas, and minerals. Dangers of subduction include earthquakes, tsunamis, and explosive volcanic eruptions. In spite of the importance of subduction, existing animations of subduction zone processes fail to capture the advances in our understanding resulting from recent NSF-supported geoscience research. It is in the national interest that these advances be clearly and simply explained to students, the public, and other scientists. Because subduction is a dynamic system, it requires animation to show how the various components and processes interact. Existing animations of subduction zone processes are dated and do not reflect our current understanding of this important process. They are quite simply inaccurate. The lack of realistic animations of how subduction and associated processes operate creates a huge gap between NSF-funded science, science education, and public understanding of this fundamental Earth process.This project involves a leading scholar of subduction zone processes, a Geosciences graduate student, and two undergraduates enrolled in the UT Dallas School of Arts and Humanities Arts and Technology program (UTD-ATEC) to create a realistic animation of subduction that reflects our current understanding of this complex process resulting from geoscience research sponsored by NSF-EAR and by targeted geoscience initiatives MARGINS and GeoPRISMS . UTD-ATEC is the only comprehensive degree-granting program in the State of Texas designed to explore and foster the convergence of computer science and engineering with the creative arts and the humanities. The subduction zone animation effort is pairing students trained in modern digital technologies with scholars who know the science in creating a realistic animation of very large and important process. The undergraduate students are employed to work 10 hours per week with the PI and a graduate student to produce the animation. Feedback from geoscience researchers and educators is being sought at national meetings. When completed, the animation will be posted on YouTube and will also be distributed by at least one textbook publisher as part of their supplementary on-line offerings for a wide range of undergraduate textbooks (e.g., Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Oceanography, Natural Hazards, Physical Geography, etc.)