RCN: A Research Coordination Network for the SZ4D Initiative

被称为“俯冲带”的板块构造特征产生了地球上最具破坏性的地震、火山和滑坡灾害。它们位于两个构造板块碰撞的地方，形成了世界上大多数的主要火山，如美国和加拿大的喀斯喀特山脉或日本的富士山，而地球上发生的大多数真正的大地震和海啸也发生在俯冲带。与飓风等其他灾害不同，几乎所有破坏性地震和许多火山爆发都是在没有事先预警的情况下发生的。科学界已经确定，对导致这些事件的潜在过程进行研究是一项关键的、高度优先的未来需求。新兴技术现在提供了新的方法，可以对火山和地震断层活动的细微变化进行持续的实时观察，从而揭示灾难发生前的情况。例如，现在有可能监测海底在近海断层上的微小位移，或者测量岩浆在地下移动时火山释放的气体。这些新技术需要以系统和全面的方式部署，这将使研究人员能够改变对地震、海啸、火山喷发和山体滑坡的理解。这个研究协调网络（RCN）的主要目标是组织和协调研究俯冲带的地质学家和地球物理学家的活动，以发展下一代的观测和测量。它被称为SZ4D，即“四维俯冲带”，因为它的目标是对地球三维空间和时间（从地震时的几秒钟到几十年，甚至更久的地质记录）上的构造过程进行全面研究。在三年的时间里，SZ4D RCN将汇集数十名专家，跨越学科界限，评估研究的前沿，设计最好的下一代研究，并为实施新的国家研究基础设施制定切实可行的计划。这个项目基本上是有组织的——它本身不会进行新的研究，但将作为数百名美国大学研究人员及其国际合作者的中央协调骨干和沟通渠道。这项工作将按主题分成三个小组，解决三个问题：是什么控制了沿俯冲断层和其他相关危险断层的地震和海啸过程？什么过程决定了火山喷发的时间和方式？滑坡和其他地表灾害与地震和/或长期板块构造活动有何联系？RCN的主要任务是在积极研究俯冲带的研究人员的共识下，制定一个包容性和综合性的计划，以协调未来的研究。它将整合成熟的科学家和早期职业研究人员，包括高级研究生，并将广泛地包括科学界。除了网络本身在联系科学家方面的积极影响外，主要产品将是美国十年或更长时间的国家努力蓝图：SZ4D实施计划。这份报告将提供给美国国家科学基金会、美国国家航空航天局和其他机构，以及研究界，以指导未来几十年为科学和社会服务的潜在重大新举措的计划。俯冲带产生了地球上最具破坏性的地震、火山和山体滑坡灾害，然而，在这些动态地理环境中，对控制地震、火山爆发和山体滑坡的发生、时间和强度的基本物理和化学过程的关键理解仍然非常缺乏。认识到科学和社会的关键研究需求，美国国家科学基金会于2016年主办了俯冲带观测研讨会，并提出了一个新的穿越时空的俯冲带（SZ4D）倡议的愿景。SZ4D研究协调网络（RCN）旨在提供这种整合，并在为期三年的高度包容性规划过程中将愿景转化为具体可行的计划，这将吸引美国俯冲带研究界以及许多国际合作伙伴。它有两个主要目标：(1)明确和优先考虑地震海啸断层和火山喷发如何工作的科学技术挑战，最终目标是制定SZ4D实施计划。(2)作为多学科研究团队、联邦机构和其他机构日益增长的活动的中心沟通渠道。我们寻求制定新的战略来解决问题，例如开发新的海底和火山观测能力，进行社区实验，以及制定快速事件响应计划。俯冲带危害科学在当今的地球科学中是一项巨大的努力，包含了大量不同的研究工作，SZ4D愿景文件明确指出，协调和整合研究、技术发展和模型框架，以增加我们对火山爆发、海啸、地震和山体滑坡的预测理解，这既是需要的，也是社区的愿望。RCN是将这一愿景转变为统一社区计划的关键一步。P.I. Tobin将领导一个由15名成员组成的指导委员会，该委员会将依次监督四个工作组，这些工作组将建立SZ4D实施计划。RCN将通过网站、电子新闻邮件列表和科学会议的公开会议来发展研究社区的参与和互动。RCN工作组将围绕以下科学问题组织起来：是什么控制了沿俯冲断层和其他相关危险断层的地震和海啸过程？什么过程决定了火山喷发的时间和方式？滑坡和其他地表灾害与地震和/或长期板块构造活动有何联系？由于俯冲灾害在全球范围内都有发生，RCN将与许多国际伙伴合作制定实地研究的合作计划。这个RCN将协调许多地球科学学科的研究人员的努力。该网络以SZ4D愿景文件中的蓝图为指导，将向所有研究人员开放，并强调合作、建立共识以及美国和国际上早期职业科学家的参与。当SZ4D项目完全实现后，它将成为培养新一代多学科地球科学家的工具，并提高公众对俯冲带过程和危害的认识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The plate tectonic features known as "subduction zones" produce the most devastating seismic, volcanic, and landslide hazards on the planet. They are placed where two tectonic plates collide and form most of the major volcanoes of the world such as the Cascades of the U.S. and Canada or Mt. Fuji of Japan, and subduction zones also host most of the truly giant earthquakes and tsunami that occur on Earth. Unlike other hazards such as hurricanes, nearly all damaging earthquakes and many volcanic eruptions occur without advance warning. The scientific community has identified research into the underlying processes that cause these events as a critical, high-priority future need. Emerging technologies are now providing new ways to make continuous observations in real time of the subtle changes in activity at volcanoes and earthquake faults that reveal what is going on before the disaster strikes. For example, it is now possible to monitor tiny displacements of the sea bed over the offshore faults, or measure gases emitted by volcanoes as magma moves underground. These new technologies need to be deployed in a systematic and comprehensive way that will allow researchers to transform understanding of quakes, tsunamis, eruptions, and landslides. The principal goal of this Research Coordination Network (RCN) is to organize and coordinate activity of the geologists and geophysicists who study subduction zones in order to develop the next generation of observatories and measurements. It is called SZ4D, or "subduction zones in four dimensions" because the objective is comprehensive study of the tectonic processes over three-dimensions of space in the earth and also over time (ranging from seconds during earthquakes to decades - and beyond in the geologic record). Over its three year duration, the SZ4D RCN will bring many dozens of specialists together to talk across discipline boundaries assessing the leading edge of research, devise the best next generation of studies, and develop practical plans for the implementation of a new national research infrastructure. This project is fundamentally organizational - it will not conduct new research itself, but will serve as the central coordination backbone and communication channel for hundreds of U.S. university-based researchers and their international collaborators. The work will be organized thematically into teams addressing three questions: What controls earthquake and tsunami processes along the subduction fault and other related hazardous faults? What processes govern when and how volcanoes erupt? and How are landslides and other surface hazards linked to seismic and/or longer term plate tectonic activity? The RCN's main mission is to develop, by consensus of the researchers active in studying subduction zones, an inclusive and comprehensive plan for coordinated future research. It will integrate both established scientists and early-career investigators, including advanced graduate students, and will be broadly inclusive of the scientific community. The main product, besides the positive impact of the network itself in linking scientists, will be a blueprint for a decade or more of US national effort: an SZ4D Implementation Plan. This will be provided to NSF, NASA and other agencies, as well as the research community, to guide plans for potential major new initiatives to serve science and society in coming decades. Subduction zones produce the most devastating seismic, volcanic, and landslide hazards on the planet, yet critical understanding of the basic physical and chemical processes controlling the occurrence, timing, and magnitude of earthquakes, eruptions, and landslides in these dynamic geographic settings remains sorely lacking. In recognition of the critical research need for science and society, the National Science Foundation sponsored the Subduction Zone Observatory workshop in 2016, where a vision for a new Subduction Zones Through Space and Time (SZ4D) Initiative was developed. This SZ4D Research Coordination Network (RCN) is proposed to provide that integration and turn the vision into a concrete and viable plan over a three-year, highly inclusive planning process that will engage the U.S. subduction zone research community as well as many international partners. It has two major goals: (1) To sharpen and prioritize the scientific and technical challenges for research into how earthquake & tsunami generating faults and volcanic eruptions work, with the ultimate goal of producing an SZ4D Implementation Plan. (2) To act as a central communication channel for the growing activities by multidisciplinary research teams, federal agencies, and others. We seek to define new strategies to attack problems, developing for example new seafloor and volcano observational capabilities, conducting community experiments, and planning for rapid event response. The science of subduction zone hazards is a massive effort in the geosciences today encompassing a vast array of disparate research efforts, and the SZ4D Vision Document makes it clear that there is both need and a community desire to coordinate and integrate research, technological development, and model frameworks to increase our predictive understanding of eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes and landslides. This RCN is a key step in turning this vision into a unified community plan. P.I. Tobin will lead a 15 member Steering Committee that will in turn oversee four Working Groups that will build the SZ4D Implementation Plan. The RCN will develop research community engagement and interaction through a website, e-news mailing list, and open meetings at scientific conferences. The RCN Working Groups will be organized around scientific questions including: What controls earthquake and tsunami processes along the subduction fault and other related hazardous faults? What processes govern when and how volcanoes erupt? and How are landslides and other surface hazards linked to seismic and/or longer term plate tectonic activity? Because subduction hazards occur around the globe, the RCN will engage many international partners to develop cooperative plans for field research. This RCN will coordinate the efforts of researchers across many geoscience disciplines. The network, guided by the blueprint in the SZ4D Vision document, will be open to all researchers and emphasize collaboration, consensus-building, and the participation of early-career scientists in the U.S. and internationally. When fully realized, the SZ4D vision will be the vehicle to develop an new generation of multidisciplinary geoscientists and public awareness of subduction zone processes and hazards.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.