US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan 2018-2028
DRAFT April 2018
US Continental Scientific Drilling and Coring
Science Plan 2018-2028
DRAFT April 2018
for review and comment
Content from Paleorecords community only;
portions for other scientific disciplines to be added.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYUS CONTINENTAL SCIENTIFIC DRILLING AND CORING SCIENCE PLAN 2018-2028: PALEORECORDS COMMUNITY
Drilling and coring on the Earth’s continents are vital to many subdisciplines within the Earth sciences, including both hard and soft rock research, the intersection of the Earth and biological sciences, and a variety of topics highly relevant to humans. Drilling and coring represent the only means of accessing unexposed parts of the rock record; in cases where outcrops do exist, drilling provides unweathered material that expands the analytical methods that can be employed and therefore the scientific questions that can be answered.
Continental scientific drilling (CSD) requires coordination and deployment of relatively large and complex technical, logistical, and human resources. Coring, by contrast, is often carried out by small teams with simple equipment; however, coring often provides the scientific basis for deeper drilling of the same site, and a continuum exists between coring and drilling. The cost of a single CSD field project can represent a large fraction of the annual science budget for the NSF programs that typically fund such projects; therefore, the communities served by CSD must collectively prioritize high-reward sites that advance goals across multiple communities.
The NSF-supported Continental Scientific Drilling Coordination Office (CSDCO) is charged with assisting in this process of prioritization, by facilitating the scientific community to articulate the most important – ideally cross-cutting – questions that can be addressed by drilling and coring on the continents. Although in this report these “big questions” are organized by topic (hydroclimate, temperature, ecology/biology, and the human dimension), numerous intersections emerge. Common research emphases identified include testing Earth system linkages in time periods particularly similar to or divergent from current conditions; generation of information needed by modelers and planners; improving chronological control and temporal resolution of paleorecords; linking of continental records with those from marine and ice cores; understanding forcings and feedbacks; using networks of paleorecord sites; quantitative technique development and standardization; and community coordination. The disparate topic groups also recognized the central role of geochronology in the successful resolution of nearly every topical question documented.
The critical human and infrastructural resources needed to address the “big questions” also bridge subdisciplines. Specific resources are identified in three categories: (a) improved support for project development; (b) a dynamic 21st century tool kit for drilling/coring and analysis; and (c) optimized workflows and integrated facilities and data management operations.
The paleorecords community has collectively declined at this point to rank specific drilling/coring sites relative to one another, although the rationale for prioritization, and parameters to be considered, are a part of this report. The CSDCO will convene paleorecords community workshops in 2018-2019 with the express goal of prioritization among the sites and networks of sites that have been proposed.
The structure of this report, which places primacy on science questions and then recommends resources to answer them – while always seeking commonalities in goals and means – is the best method that the community has for providing NSF with strong rationale for funding allocation and prioritization among competitive proposals.
Suggested reading order: The reader with limited time is encouraged to read the Science Plan sections in the following order:
1. Science Planning: Preamble; 2. Paleorecords Community: Introduction; 7. Resources
and then to read the one or two Science Questions and Priorities section(s) most relevant to the reader’s own field, domain, or program:
4.I. Hydroclimate4.II. Biotic Processes4.III. Temperature4. IV. The Human Dimensionand/or please read: 5. The Central Role of Geochronology6. Outreach, Diversity, and Education (to be written by future workgroup)
Please also see the US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan: Paleorecords - Highlights brochure for a concise summary of this document. The brochure is available at CSDCO.org.
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US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan 2018-2028
DRAFT April 2018
1. Science Planning: Preamble
Scientific drilling and coring on Earth’s continents is fundamental for the advancement of the Earth sciences, unlocking new frontiers across a range of disciplines. The lines of scientific inquiry enabled by continental scientific drilling and coring are diverse, and include plate tectonics, Earth-life system interactions (paleoclimate, paleobiology, other paleorecords), bolide impacts, Critical Zone processes, magmatism, geothermal dynamics, hydrology, fault mechanics and seismicity, ecology of the deep biosphere, early Earth system establishment and evolution, archeology and hominid evolution, rock weathering processes, geochemistry, and others.
Drilling and coring constitute the primary means of directly accessing materials at depth below the Earth’s surface; they provide a means of obtaining fresh sample material where lack of geologic exposure or surface weathering limit access or sample integrity; they are required for accessing deeper locations where subsurface processes, fluids, solids, and biota can be observed and analyzed or monitored in real time through instrumented borehole observatories; and they provide an irreplaceable mechanism for validating surface-based observations and models. These activities are consistently identified as critical priorities of science funding (e.g., PAGES, 2009; Evans, 2009; Evans, 2010; Evans, 2011; NRC, 2012; CPB, 2012; Russell et al., 2012; TRANSITIONS, 2012; Cohen and Zur, 2013).
Scientific drilling and coring are complex operations, bringing together collaborative international teams of researchers and students from disciplines across the geosciences. Substantial resources are invested in drilling and coring operations by NSF and other funding agencies around the world. The best results are achieved when the scientific community focuses its intellectual, physical, and financial resources on the highest-priority, highest-reward drilling targets and frameworks. It is therefore critical that the scientific community prioritize amongst the wide range of available drilling and coring concepts, to maximize research efficiency and ultimate scientific output.
The Continental Scientific Drilling Coordination Office (CSDCO) and LacCore Facility constitute the primary NSF facilities for continental scientific drilling and coring. Through support of research, these facilities promote project-specific development and realization of the consensus priorities developed by the drilling and coring communities. The US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan seeks to more explicitly identify and articulate these priorities on behalf of the various interested research communities for the upcoming decade.
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US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan 2018-2028
DRAFT April 2018
Paleorecords Community Workshop Participant List
First name / Last name / Institution / Email addressMark / Abbott / Univ of Pittsburgh /
Joanne / Ballard / Pellissippi Community College/TVA /
Kathleen / Benison / West Virginia Univ /
Melissa / Berke / Univ of Notre Dame /
Janice / Brahney / Utah State Univ /
Emily / Beverly / Georgia State Univ /
Broxton / Bird / Indiana Univ-Purdue Univ Indianapolis /
Kristina / Brady Shannon / CSDCO / Univ of Minnesota /
Julie / Brigham-Grette / Univ of Massachusetts-Amherst /
Erik / Brown / U of MN Duluth /
Chris / Campisano / Arizona State Univ. /
Isla / Castañeda / Univ of Massachusetts Amherst /
Christine / Chen / MIT / WHOI /
Doug / Clark / Western Washington Univ /
Marie-Helene / Cormier / Univ of Rhode Island /
Chris / Crosby / Univ of Minnesota /
Rene / Dommain / Smithsonian - NMNH /
Douglas / Fils / Ocean Leadership /
Brandon / Curry / Illinois State Geological Surv /
Brady / Foreman / Western Washington Univ /
Sheri / Fritz / Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln /
Benjamin / Harrison / Central Michigan Univ /
Clifford / Heil / Univ of Rhode Island - GSO /
Scott / Hynek / USGS /
Emi / Ito / CSDCO / Univ of Minnesota /
Sarah / Ivory / Brown Univ /
Stephen / Kuehn / Concord Univ /
Chad / Lane / Univ of North Carolina Wilmington /
Kerstin / Lehnert / Columbia Univ /
Lonnie / Leithold / North Carolina State Univ /
David / Marchetti / Western Colorado Univ /
Daniel / Maxbauer / Univ of Minnesota /
David / McGee / MIT /
Michael / McGlue / Univ. of Kentucky /
Kendra / McLauchlan / Kansas State Univ /
Jessica / Moerman / Smithsonian - NMNH / Univ of Michigan /
Amy / Myrbo / CSDCO / Univ of Minnesota /
Anders / Noren / CSDCO / Univ of Minnesota /
Paul / Olsen / LDEO/Columbia Univ /
Lisa / Park Boush / Univ of Connecticut /
Molly / Patterson / Binghamton Univ /
Jeff / Pietras / Binghamton Univ /
Nathan / Rabideaux / Georgia State Univ /
Sarah / Ramdeen / Univ of North Carolina at Chapel Hill /
Alberto / Reyes / Univ of Alberta /
Marci / Robinson / USGS /
Jessica / Rodysill / U.S. Geological Survey /
Jim / Russell / Brown Univ /
Christopher / Scholz / Syracuse Univ /
Jean / Self-Trail / U.S. Geological Survey /
Mark / Shapley / Univ of Minnesota /
Juan / Silva / Univ of houston /
Alison / Smith / Kent State Univ /
Emily / Smith / Smithsonian / Johns Hopkins Univ /
Mona / Stockhecke / Univ of Minnesota /
Joseph / Stoner / Oregon State Univ /
Justin / Stroup / MIT / Tufts /
Zachary / Taylor / Berry College /
Frederick / Taylor / Univ of Texas - Austin /
Rebecca / Teed / Wright State Univ /
Christian / Tryon / Harvard Univ /
Michael / Tuite / Jet Propulsion Lab, Caltech /
Isabel / Vilanova / Argentine Museum of Nat Hist /
Josef / Werne / Univ Pittsburgh /
Deb / Willard / USGS /
Fasong / Yuan / Cleveland State Univ /
Susan / Zimmerman / Lawrence Livermore Nat’l Laboratory /
Others who have contributed to the document:
Dave / Adam / Clear Lake Env Res CtrLesleigh / Anderson / USGS /
Fabien / Arnaud / Université Grenoble Alpes /
Eliot / Atekwana / Oklahoma State Univ /
Joanne / Ballard / Univ Tennessee-Knoxville /
Dave / Boutt / Univ of Massachusetts /
Will / Clyde / Univ of New Hampshire /
Andrea / Brunelle / Univ of Utah /
Andy / Cohen / Univ Arizona /
Daniel / Condon / British Geological Survey
Al / Deino / Berkeley Geochronology Center /
Jaime / Escobar / Universidad del Norte(Colombia) /
Doriedson / Ferreira Gomes / Universidade Federal da Bahia /
Luis / Gibert Beotas / Univ of Barcelona /
David / Greenwood / Brandon Univ /
Martin / Gross / Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz
Scott / Harris / College of Charleston /
Thomas / Harris /
Nicholas / Heaven / Hampton Univ /
Yongsong / Huang / Brown Univ /
Britta / Jensen / Univ of Alberta /
Joseph / Janick / Keystone College
Tom / Johnson / Univ Minnesota Duluth /
Darrell / Kaufman / Northern Arizona Univ /
Natalie / Kehrwald / USGS /
John / King / Univ of Rhode Island /
Matt / Kirby / Cal State Fullerton /
Tim / Kohler / Washington State Univ /
Stephen / Kuehn / Concord Univ /
Jennifer / Latimer / Indiana State Univ /
Lonnie / Leithold / North Carolina State Univ /
Tim / Lowenstein / Binghamton Univ /
Steve / Lund / Univ Southern California /
John / Lukzaj / Univ Wisconsin - Green Bay /
Francis / MacDonald / Harvard Univ
Andrea / Marzoli / Univ of Padova
LeeAnn / Munk / Univ of Alaska Anchorage /
Kristian / Olson / Binghamton Univ /
Titus / Ombori / Università degli Studi di Ferrara /
Werner / Piller / KFU Graz /
Pratigya / Polissar / LDEO/Columbia Univ
Dana / Royer / Wesleyan Univ /
Peter / Schultz / Brown Univ /
Mitch / Power / Univ of Utah /
Cleverson / Silva / Universidade Federal Fluminense
Peter / Siver / Connecticut College /
Lynn / Soreghan / Univ Oklahoma /
Jeffrey / Stone / Indiana State Univ /
Jessica / Tierney / Univ of Arizona /
Joe / Williams / Oxford-Brookes Univ /
Alex / Wolfe / Univ of Alberta /
Claudia / Wrozyna / KFU Graz /
MarcelloZarate Universidad Nacional de la Pampa
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US Continental Scientific Drilling Science Plan 2018-2028
DRAFT April 2018
2. Paleorecords Community: Introduction
The continental paleorecords community conducts research on all aspects of environmental history and process, basing its work upon nonmarine sedimentary sequences formed in an extraordinary diversity of depositional settings. Researchers in this community contend with this complexity, despite the pole-to-pole historical sampling of the oceans and cryosphere provided by marine and ice cores, because continental sites record spatial variability in Earth parameters across land masses and the Earth system feedbacks produced by terrestrial processes. Continental sediments record conditions at locations and time scales relevant to human evolution and survival. Most essentially perhaps they provide records of the continental ecosystems and hydrologic processes upon which terrestrial life depends. In their very heterogeneity, continental paleorecords record the critical complexities of the continental response to global climatic and geological phenomena.
This plan focuses primarily on projects that call for careful prioritization relative to one another by the community and funding agencies such as NSF. These are projects that require large grants, often with large teams including several principal investigators (PIs), longer planning timeframes, and typically the use of shared facilities. Such projects typically involve deep drilling by mechanized equipment to depths of several tens to hundreds or even thousands of meters, deep water at target sites, logistical complexity, remote locations, challenging lithologies, or a combination of these factors. At the other end of the spectrum, shallower coring projects, in the soft sediments of modern lakes, rivers, estuaries, or other continental sedimentary basins, can often be accomplished at low cost, by small, agile teams, using hand-operated coring equipment, with short lead times, and are not considered at length in this science plan. These shallower coring activities may, however, precede deeper drilling to demonstrate the potential of a site to produce a robust, dateable paleorecord. Deep drilling and shallow coring communities are contiguous and overlapping, and the LacCore/CSDCO facility supports both equally.
Members of the paleorecords community come from a range of disciplines, including the geosciences, ecology, biology, anthropology, archeology, and geography. Continental cores contain myriad sedimentary components and physical and chemical features, and members of the community apply a wide variety of analytical techniques, in order to address questions that derive from their own fields, and that often intersect with questions from other fields. The paleorecords community’s science plan therefore ranges widely in focus, reflecting the conceptual breadth inherited from its diverse intellectual underpinnings. Unifying themes across disparate sub-communities are clear, however, and include the following priority research emphases:
●Long time scales, and specific periods in time that allow the best possible tests of the understanding of Earth-system linkages, e.g., (1) periods with known similarities to projected future Earth climate, and (2) times with substantially different environments and conditions from which we can learn about novel triggers and responses within the Earth-life system.
●Targeted information needed by modelers, planners, and analysts, whose applications range from simulating fundamental Earth-system processes, to designing strategies for societal resilience, to supporting global security planning.
●Improved chronological control of sedimentary paleorecords.
●Refined temporal resolution of key time windows.
●Linking continental, marine, and ice core paleorecords, promoting globally unified interpretations of Earth system history.
●Understanding forcings (e.g. greenhouse gases, orbital cycles, tectonics, nutrient limitation) and their representation in depositional sequences.
●Understanding feedbacks between the biosphere (surface and subsurface) and abiotic processes including climate.
●Developing and improving networks of paleorecord sites to better define spatial variations in climate and their dynamics over time, optimizing the scientific yield of existing and proposed paleorecords.
●Integration of data from site networks to effectively synthesize efforts between subdisciplines.
●Technique development, including standardization of applications and interpretation, with an emphasis on quantitative reconstruction and calibration.
●Fundamental processes of sedimentation and sediment preservation that affect paleoenvironmental interpretation.
●Community coordination through ongoing workshop planning and other mechanisms.
3. Subdisciplines within the Paleorecords Community
The paleorecords community encompasses researchers with a diversity of distinct but interrelated emphases, each guiding its members in the recognition of interlinked, overarching scientific questions.
- Hydroclimate. The Hydroclimate community includes those researchers with a primary focus on reconstructing spatio-temporal changes in the global and regional water cycle. Often this is accomplished through the application of stable isotope and other geochemical techniques providing proxy records of global water transport vectors and the intensity of continental water cycling. This realm interfaces with that of modern hydrology as well as with other elements of the paleorecords community, and provides critical tests of Earth system modeling carried out at global and regional scales.
- Biology/Ecology. With a focus on changes in ecosystem function and structure over time, this research community incorporates direct (fossils and subfossil remains) and less direct (biologically sensitive geochemistry) lines of evidence into inferred ecosystem histories. Through this approach, members of this community are uniquely positioned to both draw inferences about the physical environments of the past, and interpret the sensitivity of ecosystems to forcing by the physical environment. By interfacing with the other paleorecord communities and with the fields of neo-ecology and microbiology, this community generates critical knowledge of the all-important feedbacks between biota and Earth’s physical processes and climate.
- Temperature. Temperature history has a central role in unraveling Earth-surface and atmospheric processes. Members of this community are therefore on a continuing search for novel geochemical techniques that can yield quantitative temperature reconstructions at key points around the planet, and characterize natural variability at various temporal and spatial scales between these points. As with the hydroclimate community, their research emphasis contributes in critical ways to the testing and validation of Earth system models and to reconstruction of climate during extremes of the Earth’s climate history.
- Human Influences and Impacts; Paleoanthropology; Archeology; Natural Hazards. This research community occupies the interface between human evolution, human activities, and variability in the physical environment. Fundamental to our understanding of the origins of the human species and of cultures, the work of this community is also central to humanity’s task of developing expectations and adaptation strategies for future environments and climates outside of recent experience, and for the effects that geohazards will have on a growing human population.
Important questions also derive from the chronological control on paleorecords and geochronological methods themselves . . .