CAREER: An Integrated Geophysical Approach to Research and Education to Solve the Tectonic Puzzle of the Northern Atlantic

北大西洋具有不同的地质特征，包括冰岛下方的热点，挪威和格陵兰东部富含火山的被动大陆边缘，以及大西洋上活跃和废弃的扩张中心，中间是扬马延微大陆。然而，该地区的构造历史总体上被过度简单化了。这项研究将揭示不同构造块的地壳类型(大陆或海洋)，重建其在北大西洋开放之前的适配性，并提供每个地质时期的构造“快照”。这些结果可以帮助准确地确定影响古气候、生物多样性和启动海洋水循环的关键地质过程的时间和程度。这项研究将与教育工作相结合，包括在内布拉斯加州-林肯大学的高级地球物理课程中进行的小型研究项目；为林肯和奥马哈女孩公司的高中生和未得到充分服务的学生举办的夏令营；以及将通过卡尔顿学院的科学教育资源中心向全国教育工作者传播的五个教育模块。这些努力将扩大对STEM的参与，培养一支多样化和装备精良的地球物理劳动力队伍。由于Jan Mayen微大陆范围和挪威边缘构造域的不确定性，以及格陵兰-冰岛-法罗海脊有争议的地壳亲和性，北大西洋区域的构造重建仍然受到限制。该项目将通过将地球物理方法与科学钻探产生的地质约束相结合，研究各个区域的地壳结构和构造结构。将在北大西洋的三个单独区域--挪威-格陵兰共轭边缘、Jan Mayen微大陆和格陵兰-冰岛-法罗海脊区域--开发一套强有力的综合地球物理模型，以确定符合多种地球物理方法的地下结构。将利用势场的空间分析，在所有三个区域的模型线之间追踪确定的构造特征，为随后的构造恢复建立一个框架，这将提供关于前大西洋大陆的新的基本知识。与这些努力相结合，教育目标是通过让不同的本科生、研究生和高中生参与以综合地球物理方法为中心的互动学习体验，促进地球物理学成为一种职业选择。这些活动将促进综合可公开获得的数据集的综合多物理分析，并使有力和严格的解释成为可能。最终，一项全面的地球物理研究计划将在一家公共土地授予机构建立，该机构将培养出装备精良的毕业生，以满足地球物理劳动力和国家的需求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Northern Atlantic has diverse geologic features including a hotspot under Iceland, volcanic-rich passive continental margins of Norway and Eastern Greenland, and active and abandoned spreading centers in the Atlantic Ocean with the Jan Mayen microcontinent in between. However, the tectonic history of the region has generally been oversimplified. This research will reveal the crustal type (continental or oceanic) of different tectonic blocks, reconstruct their fit prior to the opening of the northern Atlantic Ocean, and provide a tectonic “snapshot” for each geologic time period. The results can help pinpoint the timing and extent of critical geological processes that affect paleoclimate, biodiversity, and initiation of oceanic water circulation. The research will be integrated with education efforts, including mini research projects in advanced geophysical classes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; a summer camp for high school students and underserved students from Girls Inc. of Lincoln and Omaha, NE; and five education modules that will be disseminated to educators across the nation via the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College. Such efforts will broaden participation in STEM and cultivate a diverse and well-equipped geophysics workforce. With uncertainties in the extent of the Jan Mayen microcontinent and tectonic domains of the Norwegian margin, as well as the disputed crustal affinity of the Greenland-Iceland-Faroe Ridge, tectonic reconstruction of the Northern Atlantic region remains poorly constrained. This project will examine crustal architecture and tectonic structures of individual regions via the integration of geophysical methods with geological constraints from scientific drilling. A set of robust and comprehensive geophysical models in three individual regions of the Northern Atlantic – the Norwegian-Greenland conjugate margins, the Jan Mayen microcontinent, and the Greenland-Iceland-Faroe Ridge region – will be developed to define subsurface structures that are in agreement with multiple geophysical methods. The identified tectonic features will be traced in-between the modeled lines in all three regions using spatial analysis of potential fields, building a framework for a consequent tectonic restoration, which will provide new fundamental knowledge of the pre-Atlantic continent. Integrated with these efforts, the education goal is to promote geophysics as a career of choice by engaging diverse undergraduate, graduate, and high school students in interactive learning experiences centered around an integrated geophysical approach. These activities will promote a comprehensive multi-physics analysis that integrates publicly available datasets and enables robust and rigorous interpretations. Ultimately, a comprehensive geophysical research program will be established at a public land-grant institution that will yield graduates who are well-equipped to meet the needs of the geophysical workforce and nation.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.