Developing more realistic animations of subduction zone processes.

开发更真实的俯冲带过程动画。这个项目正在开发一个真实的数字动画，用于板块构造的俯冲过程，它将被教育、研究和科学界广泛使用。俯冲过程包括在海沟处50-100英里厚的海洋岩石圈板块下沉，并使这些物质回到地幔深处。俯冲作用是固体地球表面下发生的所有过程中最重要的一个。俯冲带影响着数千英里的海岸线，并向地球深处延伸数百英里。俯冲作用在影响社会的同时使构造板块移动。俯冲带的好处包括形成石油、天然气和矿产的经济矿床。潜没的危险包括地震、海啸和火山爆发。尽管俯冲作用很重要，但现有的俯冲带过程动画未能捕捉到我们最近由美国国家科学基金会支持的地球科学研究所取得的进展。向学生、公众和其他科学家清楚而简单地解释这些进展符合国家利益。因为俯冲是一个动态系统，它需要动画来显示不同的组成部分和过程是如何相互作用的。现有的俯冲带过程动画是过时的，不能反映我们目前对这一重要过程的理解。它们完全不准确。缺乏关于俯冲和相关过程如何运作的真实动画，在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造成了巨大的差距。该项目涉及一位俯冲带过程的主要学者，一位地球科学研究生，以及德州大学达拉斯艺术与人文学院艺术与技术项目（UTD-ATEC）的两名本科生，他们将创建一个真实的俯冲动画，以反映我们目前对这一复杂过程的理解，该过程是由NSF-EAR和有针对性的地球科学倡议margin和GeoPRISMS赞助的地球科学研究成果。UTD-ATEC是德克萨斯州唯一的综合性学位授予项目，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。俯冲带动画的工作是将受过现代数字技术训练的学生与了解科学的学者结合起来，创造一个非常大而重要的过程的逼真动画。这些本科生每周与PI和一名研究生一起工作10个小时来制作动画。正在全国会议上寻求地球科学研究人员和教育工作者的反馈。完成后，动画将发布在YouTube上，并将由至少一家教科书出版商分发，作为其广泛的本科教科书（例如，物理地质学，历史地质学，海洋学，自然灾害学，自然地理学等）的补充在线产品的一部分。

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.)