NSF Workshop - Call for Pre-Proposals
Pre-proposal submission deadline: Friday, 12 April 2013
The objective of this National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop is to 1) develop a community of researchers interested in using scientific drilling for sedimentary targets to address questions of Earth System evolution, and 2) offer these researchers direction on how to proceed-- e.g. how to develop a compelling drilling proposal, logistical issues to consider, funding sources to approach, etc. The intent is to galvanize research teams to move forward with future proposals for pursuing specific, high-priority drilling targets.
To secure participation, all interested researchers are invited to submit a brief (maximum 3 pages) pre-proposal identifying a viable continental scientific drilling target that addresses fundamental problems of scientific importance in the areas of paleoclimate, earth history, stratigraphy, paleoecology and/or paleobiology from any interval of Earth History. All proposals should briefly address the following criteria:
Science
- Location and age of target deposits- Compelling science issue(s)/hypotheses to be addressed by drilling, focusing on topics in paleoclimate, paleoenvironments, paleobiology, and/or extreme events- Stratigraphic completeness, continuity and resolution- Existence of baseline stratigraphic, and paleontologic data- Existence of, or potential to collect, supporting data from correlative outcrops, geophysics or prior drilling- Existence of, or potential to collect, a robust age model through the target interval
Logistics
- Challenges to drilling the site and obtaining subsurface information (e.g., suitable terrain for site-survey geophysics)- Access for drilling equipment- Permitting issues- Complexity of operations, local impact/cooperation (community and environmental)
We encourage pre-proposals to be submitted by teams of interdisciplinary researchers and will strive to accommodate as many members of a team as funds allow, while enabling as many teams to be represented as possible.The workshop is meant to enable proponents to exchange information and best practices in order to ultimately develop more sophisticated proposals for future drilling. Proponents should be prepared to become centrally involved in subsequent geophysical and logistical site survey proposals and follow-on work aimed to advance promising drilling targets.
Pre-proposals should be a maximum of 3 pages in length, not including references, and submitted via email as .pdf files to:
lsoreg
ou.edu (Dr. Lynn Soreghan)School of Geology & GeophysicsUniversity of OklahomaNorman, OK 73019, USA
or
cohenemail.arizona.edu (Dr. Andrew Cohen)Department of GeosciencesUniversity of ArizonaTucson, AZ 85721, USA