Developing more realistic animations of subduction zone processes.

开发更逼真的俯冲带过程动画。该项目正在开发板块构造中俯冲过程的逼真数字动画，将被教育、研究和科学界广泛使用。俯冲过程包括在大洋海沟下沉50-100英里厚的大洋岩石圈，并将这些物质返回地幔深处。俯冲是固体地球表面下发生的所有过程中最重要的一个。俯冲带影响数千英里的海岸线，并向地球深处延伸数百英里。俯冲使构造板块在运动的同时影响社会。俯冲带的好处包括形成石油、天然气和矿产的经济矿床。俯冲的危险包括地震、海啸和火山爆发。尽管俯冲很重要，但现有的俯冲带过程动画无法捕捉到最近由美国国家科学基金会支持的地球科学研究在我们理解方面的进步。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。因为潜水是一个动态系统，它需要动画来展示各种组件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，并不反映我们目前对这一重要过程的理解。它们完全是不准确的。缺乏关于俯冲及其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。这个项目涉及一位俯冲带过程的顶尖学者，一名地球科学研究生，以及两名就读于德克萨斯大学达拉斯艺术与人文艺术与技术学院(UTD-ATEC)的本科生，以制作一幅真实的俯冲动画，反映我们目前对这一复杂过程的理解，这一复杂过程是由NSF-EAR赞助的地球科学研究以及有针对性的地球科学计划和GeoPRISMS产生的。UTD-ATEC是得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。俯冲带动画的努力是将受过现代数字技术培训的学生与了解科学知识的学者配对，在创建逼真的动画方面具有非常大和重要的过程。本科生受雇与PI和一名研究生一起每周工作10个小时来制作动画。国家会议正在征求地球科学研究人员和教育工作者的反馈意见。完成后，动画将在YouTube上发布，并将由至少一家教科书出版商分发，作为他们为各种本科生教科书(如自然地质学、历史地质学、海洋学、自然灾害、自然地理学等)提供的在线补充课程的一部分。

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.)