This is a reminder that applications are soon due to attend the 'Drilling Active Tectonics and Magmatism' workshop in Utah, May 28-30 this year.

Details of the workshop and application process are here:

We have slightly extended the original deadline for applicants from 10 April to 15 April, so you still have time to complete the simple application form and submit it if you are at all interested in attending.

Regards

Virginia Toy

FULL WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT:

WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
NSF Workshop: Drilling active tectonics and magmatism (Volcanics, Geoprisms, and Fault Zones Post-SAFOD)

Treasure Mountain Inn, Park City, Utah, 28-30 May 2013

Steering Committee: James P. Evans, John W. Shervais, Virginia Toy, James Kirkpatrick, John C. Eichelberger, and Amanda Clarke

Introduction
The forces originating deep within the active Earth are often expressed at the Earth’s surface, where they have a profound effects that impact human societies. These effects result from the development of mountain ranges, rift valleys, and major continental suture zones. On a more local scale, they are expressed as active faults with slip ranging from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers and volcanoes that range from individual volcanoes to large volcanic chains or fields.

Understanding how fault systems and volcanoes operate is crucial to mitigating these hazards, yet studying young or active systems is difficult because the processes of driving them take place hundreds or thousands of meters below the surface. Although the deeper parts of faults and volcanic plumbing systems may be exposed by erosion in older terranes, information on active processes can only be inferred. In young active terranes, critical relationships are still hidden beneath the Earth, and require deep scientific drilling to be studied.

Workshop Goals
This workshop will explore how to guide the US Continental Scientific Drilling Program to investigate active tectonic processes as expressed by faults, volcanoes, and volcanic provinces. This workshop will build upon the scientific success of recent efforts such as SAFOD (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth), the Chelungpu fault drilling project, the Alpine Fault drilling project in New Zealand, the Gulf of Corith project, the Unzen volcanic drilling project, and the Hawaiian Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP).

Participants will be expected to help define significant scientific justifications for examining the active tectonics and magmatic processes related to faults and volcanoes that can be addressed by a coordinated program of continental scientific drilling and related site investigations. Workshop participants will be asked to prioritize these processes, and to propose the types of faults and volcanoes that would be targeted by these efforts. We envision these efforts to comprise interdisciplinary program objectives that can be directly related to on-going NSF initiatives (e.g., Geoprisms; IRIS; Earthscope), and which can be applied at a range of scales, from localized fault systems to plate boundary faults, and from small monogenetic vents to super-volcanoes and volcanic terrains. These issues have previously been examined within the context of a U.S. continental scientific drilling program, along with other science issues that can be addressed by drilling (Walton et al 2009, 2010; Brigham-Grette et al 2011). These documents will provide a basis for the present workshop’

White Papers
Our goal for this workshop is to examine these issues in detail and to provide a roadmap of key science objectives and specific projects that address the most pressing issues in active tectonics drilling. To that end, we recommend that aspiring participants prepare and submit a 1-2 page White Paper that highlights a key science objective or a specific drilling target that addresses the workshop objectives. These white papers should identify a team of proponents, and the lead proponent should attend the workshop. Please take note that white papers are encouraged but not required for participation. During the workshop we will try to amalgamate these proposals into a master document. Thus, an additional benefit to participants will be to stimulate collaboration toward similar proposed research goals.

Please submit or upload White Papers by 15 May 2013.

Link to Previous Scientific Drilling Workshop Reports:
http://www.dosecc.org/index.php/publications/reports-and-brochures

Link to New Drilling Workshops Web page:
http://csdworkshops.geo.arizona.edu

Applications
All potential participants are requested to complete the application form at the NSF Drilling Workshops web page:
http://csdworkshops.geo.arizona.edu<http://csdworkshops.geo.arizona.edu/>

Direct link to the Active Tectonics and Volcanoes Workshop page is: http://csdworkshops.geo.arizona.edu/Park_City_UT.html

There is an online application which requests with your contact information and a brief statement of interest in the workshop which addresses how continental scientific drilling applies (or could apply) to their research; applicants are also requested to note whether or not they will be submitting a White Paper. There is a button on the application page to upload white papers, or email directly to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

Potential participants who do not submit White Papers are requested to complete the application form, however, proponents of specific drilling targets will be favored for support. Researchers will be invited to participate in the workshop on the basis of their research summary, and we will attempt to cover participation expenses from participant funds. Participant support funds are limited, so please apply early and let us know what your (realistic) anticipated expenses will be.

Early career scientists and scientists from under-represented groups are encouraged to participate.

Travel
Park City is easily accessible from the Salt Lake City International Airport (code: SLC) by a variety of shuttles, about 45-60 minutes each way. We cannot reimburse for car rental.

To minimize expenses and maximize participation, all participant rooms will be double occupancy. Single occupants will require participant to cover half of the room charge. Per diem will be at USU rates, with deductions for meals provided. We will attempt to cover all travel costs, but cannot guarantee full reimbursement as funds are limited.


Workshop Schedule
The schedule is based on participants arriving on Tuesday afternoon/evening, working together for two full days (Wednesday-Thursday), then with most participants departing on Friday morning. The Steering committee will remain on Friday to draft a workshop report and position paper. Note that final schedule will vary depending on overall balance of participants and topics.

Tuesday Evening 28 May
Participants arrive late afternoon, Icebreaker reception evening. Dinner on own.

Wednesday – All Day 29 May
Morning
Session 1 – Overview; Drilling Fault Zones; Review of techniques, challenges; summary of recent projects.
Session 2 – Drilling Magmatic Systems: Volcanoes, Arcs, LIPS; Review of techniques, challenges; summary of recent projects.
Session 3 – Plenary wrap-up leading to afternoon breakout groups
Afternoon
Session 4 – Breakout Group Discussions
(a) Defining future research goals in fault zone drilling
(b) Defining future research goals in active magmatic systems
(c) Defining future research goals in geodynamics
(d) Data systems for drilling faults and volcanoes
Session 5 – Day 1 Synthesis of Breakout Group Discussions
Group Dinner

Thursday – All Day 30 May
Morning
Session 6 – Short Presentations on White Papers: Fault Zone Drilling
Session 7 – Short Presentations on White Papers: Volcanic Terrane Drilling
Session 8 – Data systems; Protocols for Description, Sampling, and Archiving Core and Samples.
Afternoon
Session 9 – Breakout Groups: Choosing and Prioritizing Specific Sites and Targets
Session 10 – Discussion and Synthesis
Dinner – participants on their own

Friday – Morning 31 May
Participants depart, Steering Committee stays to draft workshop report