This award supports a planning visit to enable Professor Louis Derry at Cornell University in New York to meet with Dr. Carlo Arcilla at the National Institute of Geological Sciences located within the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. Their goal is to establish a collaborative project on chemical weathering fluxes from the active volcanic arc in the Philippines, including active and dormant subaerial volcanoes and ophiolite terranes. The researchers believe that chemical weathering and CO2 consumption rates in volcanic arcs of tropical and subtropical regions are high, but have been largely overlooked in current geochemical flux models. These terranes are characterized by many small streams, leading to a type of non-point source problem. The researchers will combine measurements of stream hydrochemistry with analysis of spatial data sets (such as topography, precipitation and land cover) to better extrapolate a realistic number of hydrochemical data across a larger and heterogeneous region.
There is sufficient overlap of interests between researchers at Cornell University and the National Institute of Geological Sciences in the Philippines to indicate that they can successfully pursue the activities proposed, and that the interaction will benefit both sides. Few such data sets, as described above, are available anywhere, particularly from the western Pacific. The broader impact is potentially enormous, given the likelihood that these researchers will eventually successfully model global response of arc terranes to climate change. The visit will also provide support for a graduate student. This global research experience will likely provide her many opportunities for continuing contacts with her Philippine colleagues throughout her research career. This award is co-funded with the Division of Earth Sciences in the Directorate for Geosciences.
