The integrated observing systems that comprise the EarthScope Facility can be used to address fundamental questions at all scales?from the active nucleation zone of earthquakes, to individual faults and volcanoes, to the deformation along the plate boundary, to the structure of the continent and planet. EarthScope data will be openly available to maximize participation from the national and international scientific community and to provide ongoing educational outreach to students and the public.
The intellectual merit of the EarthScope Facility is derived from its link to the support of fundamental research throughout the earth sciences. Through an ambitious data collection scheme and broad geographic coverage, the EarthScope Facility will provide the observational resources to encourage cross-disciplinary investigations and stimulate the next generation of research scientists. The design and implementation plan for EarthScope was developed through extensive, decade-long engagement with the scientific and educational communities. Through numerous workshops and working groups, the research community, along with federal and state partners, defined the data and tools required for geoscience to take the next step in exploring the fundamental processes that shape the structure and evolution of our continents. As the MREFC- supported construction stage for the EarthScope Facility nears completion, exciting results are already emerging from the analysis of new EarthScope data, confirming the enhanced resolution provided by this powerful new suite of observational tools.
The broader impacts of EarthScope will be achieved through an integrated education and outreach program and applications in hazard assessment, land use, and resource management. While EarthScope is a national program, it is being operated and maintained at local levels through interactions with hundreds of universities, schools, and organizations across the nation. As EarthScope collects data and makes it available, students and the public will be introduced to key unanswered scientific questions and the role that their region or discipline plays in understanding the evolution of the North American continent and the active processes driving deformation and volcanic activity. Improved understanding of the natural environment is the first step toward improved land use, environmentally sound development, and resiliency to natural hazards. With over 3,000 geographical locations, the broad distribution of EarthScope facilities will engage traditionally under-represented groups, particularly students in rural areas that have under-resourced schools and Native Americans on tribal lands (where some of the EarthScope stations will be installed). EarthScope will provide a unique opportunity for students and the public to observe geological processes in real time and to measure geological change within the time frame of an academic school year. EarthScope is providing the public with practical examples of how science advances, as they see new data being collected and watch new theories being formulated and tested.
The USArray component of EarthScope (www.usarray.org), which was supported by this award, has used the North American continent as a natural laboratory through which to study the structure and evolution of the Earth. This multi-purpose set of geophysical instruments has been used to collect data at thousands of locations across the U.S. and adjacent regions of Canada. These include accurate and precise measurements of ground motion, magnetic and electrical fields, and atmospheric pressure; observations that encompass a number of natural and man-made phenomena. A major component of USArray is the Transportable Array (TA), a set of 400 state-of-the-art temporarily deployed seismic stations that were moved across North America from west to east as a continuous grid spaced at ~70 km. These TA stations have been deployed at nearly 1700 sites across the U.S. and southern Canada over the past 10 years and have begun to be deployed to Alaska and northwestern Canada. The unprecedented scope and quality of USArray data has reshaped our understanding of the geological structure of the North American continent and how it has formed and evolved over time. Data from USArray has also been used to pioneer new methods of analyzing geophysical datasets and served as a platform to make entirely new types of observations. USArray data have been used to investigate how the Earth ruptures during large earthquakes, to determine where magma is located deep beneath the Earth’s surface, to study induced seismicity possibly associated with human activity, and to provide new constraints on the structure of the remote inner regions of our planet. All USArray data are freely and openly available to any interested user, most in near real-time, enabling rapid and wide usage by university and government scientists and the general public. For example, USArray instruments and data have been routinely utilized by the US Geological Survey for earthquake monitoring. The exceptional quality of USArray data and the high standards for USArray operations have been internationally recognized and are being emulated by similar efforts in Europe, China and elsewhere. Scientific findings produced from USArray have also been disseminated to the general public and other scientists in diverse settings and in the press. "Active Earth" Kiosks feature prominent scientific results in museums, science centers, rest areas, and other public buildings. Student Siting and Data Processing Short Course programs have provided critical opportunities to engage undergraduate and graduate students in a major research dataset as part of their education and professional development. Periodic USArray-focused webinars have also served as educational tools and enrichment opportunities for Earth scientists and the general public.
