Program News

Marine Geology and Geophysics

MARGINS

The second MARGINS funding competition was held in April, 2000. A joint OCE-EAR panel reviewed 25 proposals and recommended funding 10. These included 4 projects to work in the Izu-Bonin-Marianas subduction area, 2 studies in Costa Rica/Mid Americas seismogenic zone, 1 in Cascadia seismogenic zone and 1 lab study. The other funded proposals included a workshop and support of the MARGINS office. The MARGINS community also held two “theoretical institutes” and planning workshops on the themes of “inside the subduction factory” and “from source to sink”, with the objectives of summarizing the state of the art and detailed planning of coordinated programs in the selected “focus” areas. These workshops were attended by a broad segment of the community and a dynamic mix of more experienced and younger researchers. Documents detailing the deliberations of these groups are expected shortly and will help guide future research in these areas.

A new joint EAR-OCE program announcement for MARGINS has been issued. The new “Announcement of Opportunity” includes all four initiatives (seismogenic zone, subduction factory, rupture of continental lithosphere and source to sink themes) and “focus” areas identified by the MARGINS community. The MARGINS proposals deadline remains the same (January 16th, 2001) for FY 2001, but for FY 2002 the deadline will change to November 1st, 2001. The change is necessitated because the old deadline meant several conflicts with other MG&G deadlines and panels which tended to overtax the reviewer community. Earlier deadline and panel meetings will also help make early funding decisions and allocation of ship time for at-sea work.

RIDGE

Planning for RIDGE 2000 continued with the Exploratory Studies Workshop held in Nashville on October 5-7. The results of this workshop, together with the results of the Integrated Studies Workshop and the RIDGE 2000 meeting, will be used to generate the Science Plan for RIDGE 2000. The RIDGE Steering Committee has selected Charles (Chuck) Fisher of Pennsylvania State University to be the first chair of the RIDGE 2000 Program. His appointment will take effect on October 1, 2001.

Personnel News

We are pleased to announce that Rodey Batiza has joined MG&G as a Program Director. Rodey comes to NSF from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Geology and Geophysics, School of Oceanography, Earth Sciences and Technology (SOEST). Among other responsibilities, Rodey will be involved in the management of the MARGINS program. We welcome him aboard.

Bil Haq (bhaq@nsf.gov)
Dave Epp (depp@nsf.gov)
Dick Poore (dpoore@nsf.gov)
Rodey Batiza (rbatiza@nsf.gov)
Lisa Crowder (lcrowder@nsf.gov)
Margaret Weller (mweller@nsf.gov)