The NSF MARGINS Concept

• Interdisciplinary Initiatives developed from community workshops 1988-2000– All “cross the shoreline”– Active processes– Focus Sites concentrate resources

The Machinery:• Independent NSF Panel funds all science proposals:

reviewed, competitive• Steering Committee (MSC) represents Community

– Logistics and coordination: MARGINS Office

Broad focus: evolution of continental margins

www.nsf-margins.org

A Global Program

• All Focus Sites are outside the U.S.• Many have major International Partners• Diverse sets of data

– Onshore and Marine– Geophysical, Geological, Geochemical, …– Archival and Real-time

The program only succeeds through international engagement

• 94 projects, 182 grants, ~120 PI’s

• Many data types, onland, marine, …

Funding Summary

By Data TypeMarine

Terrestrial

Land-Sea

Experiment& Theory

Geochem-istry

0

5

10

15

20

# of projects

By Data TypeMarine

Terrestrial

Land-Sea

Experiment& Theory

Geochem-istry

0

5

10

15

20

# of projects

(through FY08)

Awards/initiative/year,Grouped by

0

2

4

6

8

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

RCLS2SSEIZESubFac

Initiatives• SubFac: The Subduction Factory

• SEIZE: Seismogenic Zone Experiment

• S2S: Sediment Source to Sink

• RCL: Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

SubFac,SEIZE

RCLSEIZE

SubFac

S2S

Focus Sites

Four Initiatives• How do continents grow?

– composition: The Subduction Factory

– mechanics: Seismogenic Zone Experiment

• How do continental margins change?– material transport: Sediment Source to Sink

– mechanics: Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

Initiatives & Focus Sites

• Production, transport & storage of sediments & solutes from source to sink

• Production, transport & storage of sediments & solutes from source to sink

Sediment Source-to-SInk

S2SGulf of PapuaGulf of Papua Waipaoa, N.Z.Waipaoa, N.Z.

• Nature and genesis of large subduction-zone thrust earthquakes and the faults that make them

Seismogenic Zone

SEIZENankai Nankai Central AmericaCentral America

Initiatives & Focus Sites

• The cycling of material, fluids, and energy from trench to arc and deep earth; growth of continents

Subduction Factory

SubFacCentral AmericaCentral America Izu-Bonin-MarianaIzu-Bonin-Mariana

Allied: Cascadia, Aleutians

• Driving forces for rift initiation, propagation and evolution, from continent to ocean basin

Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

RCL Gulf of California/Salton TroughGulf of California/Salton Trough

Allied: Red Sea

Themes and Initiatives• How do continents grow?

– composition: The Subduction Factory

– mechanics: Seismogenic Zone Experiment

• How do continental margins change?– material transport: Sediment Source to Sink

– mechanics: Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

Central America Izu-Bonin-Marianas

Central America Nankai

Fly/Papua (New Guinea) Waipaoa (New Zealand)

Gulf of California / Salton Trough

Initiatives: SubFacSubduction Factory

SubFac

Central AmericaCentral America

Izu-Bonin-MarianaIzu-Bonin-Mariana

Allied: Cascadia, Aleutians

•79 NSF-MARGINS Awards•Major workshops: 1998, 2000, 2009•Six Site and Topical workshops (site wkshps in 2007)•3 Monographs or Special Issues

Energy, mass & chemical balances; effect on continental growth and evolution

Subduction parameters as forcing functions: production of magma and fluid

Volatile cycles and chemical, physical & biological processes - trench to deep mantle

SubFac: IBM

• 27 NSF-MARGINS Awards

• Multiple field projects

• 8 Major Workshops

• Anatahan Rapid Response

Initiatives: SEIZESeismogenic Zone

SEIZE

Controls on seismic energy release during Earthquakes

Temporal relationships among stress, strain, pore fluid pressure thru seismic cycle

Controls on locked, unlocked regions on subduction interface

Propagation, slip rates and distribution of fast, slow, tsunamigenic earthquakesCentral AmericaCentral America

NankaiNankai

•40 NSF-MARGINS Awards•Major workshops in 1997, 2003, 2008•NanTroSeize drilling started Sept 2007•2007 Seismogenic Zone Volume

SEIZE: Nankai

• 11 NSF-MARGINS Awards

• 6 Major SEIZE Workshops

NanTroSEIZE

• 2006: 3D site survey• 2007-8: Chikyu Phase 1* Integrated thermal modeling;

tremor & slip inversions

3D imaging: Splay faults & tsunamis

G. Moore et al., in press

SubFac/SEIZE: Central America

• 41 NSF-MARGINS Awards

• Multiple Field Projects

• Several integrated workshops

Initiatives: S2SSource-to-Sink

Fly-Gulf of PapuaFly-Gulf of Papua

WaipaoaWaipaoa

•1st awards 2003 – 29 NSF-MARGINS Awards to date•Major Workshops: 2006, 2009 synthesis•Recent Special Issues•Complementary CSDMS modeling facility

What controls production, transport & storage of sediments & solutes from source to sink? (tectonics-climate-humans)

What processes initiate erosion & sediment transfer, and what are critical feedbacks?

How do sedimentary processes interact with tectonics, climate & human effects to build a stratigraphic record?

S2S: New Zealand

• 10 NSF-MARGINS Awards

• 7 S2S Workshops

• Multiple Field Projects

S2S: Papua New Guinea

• 18 NSF-MARGINS Awards

• Multiple Field Projects

• 7 S2S Workshops

Initiatives: RCL Rupturing Continental Lithosphere

Gulf of California/Salton TroughGulf of California/Salton Trough

Allied: Red Sea; Focus Site pre-2006

•30 NSF-MARGINS Awards•6 Major workshops: 2000-2009•2 thematic Monographs

What forces drive rift initiation, propagation and evolution?

How does deformation vary in time & space, and why?

How does crust evolve, physically & chemically, as rifting proceeds to spreading?

What is role of magmatism and fluids in continental extension?

RCL: Gulf of California

• 22 NSF- MARGINS Awards

• Multiple Field Projects

• 6 Major Workshops 2000-2009

RCL: Red Sea

• Ancillary site

• 5 NSF-MARGINS Awards before 2006

Special Volumes and BooksIzu-Bonin-Mariana Subduction System (Kodaira, Pozgay & Ryan, eds.) Special Theme G-Cubed, accepting contributions 2008-2010 Central American Subduction System (Alvarado, Hoernle & Silver, eds.) Special Theme G-Cubed, accepting contributions 2007-2009Papuan Continuum: S2S (Nittrouer, Slingerland, & Dickens, eds.) Spec. Issue JGR-Earth Surface, March 2008 Waipaoa S2S (Kuehl & Carter, eds.) Spec. Issue Marine Geology, Expected Publication early 2009Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, Special Issue (Gill, Reagan, Tepley & Malavassi, eds.) J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 20062003 Anatahan Eruption Special Issue (Hilton, Pallister & Pua, eds.) J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 2005The Seismogenic Zone of Subduction Thrust Faults (Dixon & Moore, eds.), Columbia Univ. Press Sept. 2007.Imaging …. Continental Lithosphere Extension and Breakup (Karner, Manatschal & Pinheiro, eds.), Geol. Soc. SP 282, 2007.Rheology and Deformation of Lithosphere at Continental Margins (Karner, Taylor, Driscoll & Kohlstedt, eds.), Columbia U. Press, 2004.Inside the Subduction Factory (Eiler, ed.), AGU Monogr. 138, 2004.

Nature/Science papers: International Partnerships & MARGINS-funded work

Nature, in press, Dec. 2007

Geochemical and Geophysical Evidence for Arc-Parallel Flow in the Mantle Wedge Beneath Costa Rica and NicaraguaK. Hoernle1,2, D. L. Abt3, K. M. Fischer3, H. Nichols1, F. Hauff2, G. A. Abers4, P. van den Bogaard1,2, K. Heydolph1, G. Alvarado5, J. M. Protti6, W. Strauch7

RCLPESCADOR

MexicoU.K.

SEIZENanTroSEIZE

Japan

SubFacTUCAN

GermanyCosta RicaNicaragua

MARGINS Mini-Lessonshttp://serc.carleton.edu/margins/collection.html

• Ready-to-use undergraduate learning modules

• > 30 Mini-Lessons spanning MARGINS science and high-impact results

Events in 2009

• Major Workshops – April, New Zealand: S2S Synthesis

– April-May, Charleston SC: RCL Synthesis

– September: Mt. Hood, OR: TEI on Volatiles in the Subduction Factory

• Education Highlights – Mini-Lesson Testing & Assessment (help needed)

– Distinguished Lecture Program Year 5

• Decadal Review– Committee met Feb. 2009

2009 Decadal Review

• 102 one-page Research Nuggets from PIs

• MSC, others wrote Review Documentation– Reviews of 4 Initiatives; management; broader

impacts

Future Program:– Build a successor program– Is a focused program needed, why not rely upon

core funding?– How should program be structured?

MARGINS Successor Planning

• Community-wide workshop Feb 2010

• Open to all

• www.nsf-margins.org/SuccessorProgram

• Draft Science Plan goes to NSF summer 2010.