Towards Integration and Synthesis of MARGINS S2S Research in

PNG and NZ Focus Areas Steven Kuehl

Nicola LitchfieldAlan Orpin

April 5-9, 2009 Gisborne, NZ

Workshop goals and products

• Delineate the key results from the two S2S focus sites

• Identify the outstanding scientific gaps to fulfill the program goals

• Demonstrate the wider potential of our results to the understanding of source-to-sink systems globally

• Documenting the societal relevance of our results

• Identifying future research goals and opportunities

TWO CONTRASTING SEDIMENT DISPERSAL

SYSTEMS

Understanding Earth surface processes that transfer material from

Source to SinkHow do they operate?What is transported?

How much is transported?How quickly is it transported?

How are the segments of the systems linked?How have the systems changed through time?

Waipaoa

Fly

COMPARISON OF DISPERSAL SYSTEMS Fly Waipaoa 

Climatic setting wet tropical temperate

Basin size 75,000 km2 2,200 km2

Sediment Discharge large (108 t/y)moderate (107 t/y)

Manipulation small (+35%) large (+550%)

Lowland floodplainlong tidal reach trivial tidal reach

River mouth delta, mangroves strand plain

Discharge events unrelated to oceancorrelated to ocean

Gravity flows saltwater also freshwater (fluid mud)(hyperpycnal flows)

Shelf sedimentation clinoform prograde basin infill

Tectonic setting foreland basin fore-arc basin

Offshelf loss ~3% ~15%

Offshelf seds mostly carbonate mostly siliciclastic

Better view of PNG clinoformmodern sedimentation over old clinoform

400 m

Courtesy of Rudy Slingerland and Neal Driscoll

Tcherepanov et al. (2008)

Prograding sequences topped by shelf-edge delta and drowned barrier reef

Longer-term stratigraphic record

Waipaoa Shelf Shallow Structure - Chirp

Holocene Isopachs

4. Last post-glacial

Gerber et al., submitted

A/C

Active uplift

Active uplift

Imbricate thrustfaults

Deformation front

avalanche debrisQuaternary

shelf fill

Quaternary basin fill

3 km

2 km

1 km

MCS profile, Tuahine Ridge

MCS profile, Poverty slope

Courtesy of Josh Mountjoy

Courtesy of Alan Orpin

BUILDING A PREDICTIVE AND HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING FOR SOURCE TO SINK STUDIES FROM PROCESS TO MARGIN-SCALES

BREAK-OUT GROUP REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Active feedback b/w observations and models, CSDMS, model results inform need for/direction of data collection, determination of landscape trajectories

Equifinality – multiple different events that can create the record, use modelling to distinguish

Bridging timescales, production and storage areas

Transfer knowledge gained from WSS into other systems

Linking models b/w and across S2S systems – uplands, floodplain, coastal, offshore, biogeochemistry

• An integrated community of experts to promote the quantitative modeling of earth-surface processes: 265 members, 135 Institutions, 22 countries, 8 working groups or focus research groups

• Cyber-infrastructure to distribute Model, Data and Educational Repositories: 52+58 models (235,000 lines of code in 22 languages); 32 model initialization or boundary condition global databases; >100 ppt presentations, lecture materials & movie simulations.

• Middleware to couple dynamical models, at specific temporal and spatial scales: CSDMS Framework consists of CCA architecture and services (Babel, Ccaffine, Bocca, SIDL, PETSc), and OpenMI Interface Standards, to allow for multiple open-source languages in a HPC environment.

• Partnerships with related computational programs, field campaigns and laboratory experiments: e.g. ESMF, CCSM, CCA, OpenMI, CSTMS, CCMP, OMS, MARGINS, CZO, HIS, NCED, LOICZ, NOPP

What is CSDMS?What is CSDMS?

S2S MARGINS, NZ, 2009

MoisturePrecipitatio

nNCAR:

75x75 km, 1hr

S2S MARGINS, NZ, 2009

MoisturePrecipitatio

nNCAR:

37x37 km, 1hr

Modular Modeling

S2S MARGINS, NZ, 2009

SedFluxModelin

gSchema

Boundary Condition

Acquisition/Generation

Boundary Condition

Acquisition/Generation

Model Resolution;Processes;Upscaling

Model Resolution;Processes;Upscaling

Error Propagation;Uncertainty

Error Propagation;Uncertainty

Field/LabValidation

Error

Field/LabValidation

Error

helps to quantify Geoscience knowledge

in terms of:

Uncertainty, Variability, Error, Precision, Accuracy,

Confidence

CLIMATE-OCEAN DRIVERS OF SOURCE-TO-SINK SYSTEMS

BREAK-OUT GROUP REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

TWO-YEAR PLAN

Rapid-response, event characterisation Evaluating sediment records from Lake Murray Hindcast response to “Bola” scale event

TEN-YEAR PLAN

Integration and comparison with global sedimentary systems The Pacific Sediment Circle (“The Ring of Mud”) Reaching budget closure at the abyssal plain

ROLE OF CARBON AND SOLUTES FLUX STUDIES IN S2S

BREAK-OUT GROUP HIGHLIGHTS

How do transport pathways and storage dynamics affect biochemical cycling? How does biogeochemistry across S2S systems affect sediment production, transport, and burial?

“One of the exciting outcomes of the meeting was the synergy identified between carbon and sedimentary cycles, carried out within the S2S framework”

Community Consensus

• benefit of process-related lines of inquiry with sediment studies

• benefit of exploring closer relationship with the carbon community

• S2S-type studies in other focus areas of scientific and societal relevance (e.g., Arctic)These approaches could be incorporated under the new MARGINS program, but might also prosper under other program directions.

Future Directions

The importance of tectonics in the production of sediment and accommodation space, across a range of timescales raises the question of the appropriateness of timescales when working in areas with high tectonic activity. Punctuated tectonic and high-frequency sediment responses are avenues for future work.

Short-Term Goals

Filling gaps in S2S Science- e.g, tidal and lower Fly floodplain, longer term record, integration and synthesis proposals

Workshop to plan summary volume - holistic overview and synthesis “S2S Text”

Smaller working group meetings focused (e.g., Carbon and Arctic Science)

Integration with CSDMS

• Short-Term Goals

Fly Tidal River – The Missing Link

Tides extend 300 km to Obo Classic tide-dominated delta at river mouth

Courtesy of Bill Dietrich

Courtesy of Sergio FagherazziObo

CIGCIGCCSMCCSM CSDMSCSDMS

What is CSDMS?What is CSDMS?

Modeling Planet Earth (CIG, CSDMS, CCSM)

• An integrated community of experts to promote the modeling of earth-surface processes.

• Protocols for the library of community-generated, continuously evolving, open software.

• Cyber-infrastructure to distribute software tools & models in aid of applied and education uses.

• Partnerships with related scientific programs, providing strong linkage between predictions and observations.

CSDMSCSDMSCSDMSCSDMS