Committee on Grand Research Questions in the Solid-Earth Sciences

Committee on Grand Research Questions in the Solid-Earth Sciences: Seeking Input/Feedback on Preliminary List of Grand Research Questions

At the request of program managers at DOE, NSF, USGS, and NASA, The National Academies has assembled a committee of experts to identify grand research questions in the solid-Earth sciences. The agencies are not requesting a new topical justification of the field, but rather a serious attempt to identify key intellectual questions that will help drive research over the coming decade. The goal is to choose a limited number of questions and to word them in short, plain language that can be understood by agency managers, scientists in other disciplines, members of Congress, and the general public. No attempt will be made to cover all subdisciplines of the solid-Earth sciences, and societal issues will be addressed largely within the framework of fundamental scientific questions. The questions are intended to be long-standing and broad yet amenable to substantial progress over the coming decades.

Among the questions being considered by the committee are the following:

• 1. How did the Earth and planets form?
• 2. What happened during Earth’s dark age (the half billion years before the oldest known rock formed)?
• 3. How did life begin on Earth?
• 4. Why plate tectonics?
• 5. How has Earth’s interior evolved, and how has it affected the surface?
• 6. Why does Earth have a magnetic field?
• 7. How do life and Earth coevolve?
• 8. How has Earth’s climate changed, and why?
• 9. Can we understand and predict catastrophic natural events?
• 10. How do material properties control planetary processes?
• 11. How do air, water, land, and life processes interact to shape our environment?

The committee is seeking community input and feedback on the preliminary grand research questions listed above and selection criteria. For example, is this a reasonable list of questions? What other questions should be included? What criteria should be used to select the questions?

If your input is longer than a few paragraphs or if you would like to submit a formatted document, please send your input via e-mail to: Anne Linn, alinn@nas.edu.

Enter comments here:
(Note: this form will time out after 30 minutes. Please do not cut and paste your submission from a formatted document.)

Comments received by March 15, 2006 will be considered at the committee's next meeting (March 29-30, 2006). However, the committee welcomes any ideas until August 2006. The final report will be released by the end of 2006. Please note that any written comments submitted to the committee (whether by mail, e-mail, fax, or the project's comment form) will be included in the study's public access file.

Committee on Grand Research Questions in the Solid-Earth Sciences

Donald J. DePaolo, Co-Chair, University of California, Berkeley
Frank M. Richter, Co-Chair, The University of Chicago
Thure E. Cerling, University of Utah
Sidney R. Hemming, Columbia University
Andrew H. Knoll, Harvard University
Leigh H. Royden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Roberta L. Rudnick, University of Maryland
Sean C. Solomon, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Lars Stixrude, University of Michigan
James S. Trefil, George Mason University

Anne Linn, Study Director, National Research Council

Background: Why Develop Grand Research Questions?

Progress in the solid-Earth sciences has been remarkable over the past few decades, driven by the availability of new instruments, improved modeling capabilities, reduced barriers to cooperation with scientists in other countries, and increased coordination with other disciplines, such as astronomy and biology. With research advancing on such a wide front, it can be difficult to define the frontiers of scientific inquiry and to convey that information in a way that captures the imaginations of the scientific community, Congress, U.S. federal agencies, and the general public.

At the request of program managers at DOE, NSF, USGS, and NASA, the National Academies has assembled a committee of experts to identify the grand research questions driving the solid-Earth sciences. Although many NRC reports have identified research priorities in the solid-earth sciences, none have cast them as compelling, fundamental science questions. Such "big picture" questions may require decades to answer and research support from many agencies and organizations. The answers to these questions could profoundly affect our understanding of the planet on which we live.

The most comprehensive attempt to identify major research issues in the solid-earth sciences was Solid-Earth Sciences in Society (NRC, 1993), which considered earth science and applications in ten federal agencies. The report identified five promising research areas for improving understanding the earth system and for benefiting society (e.g., finding sufficient resources, coping with hazards). Other reports have dealt with research opportunities for individual agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NRC, 2001b), U.S. Geological Survey (NRC, 2001c), Department of Energy (NRC, 2000; 2001a), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, 2002; NRC, 2004). However, their recommendations take into account the agency's mission, budget, and history. Finally, a number of reports deal with research needs in a specific Earth science subdiscipline, such as seismology (NRC, 2003b), or with the broader environmental sciences, including components of the solid Earth (NRC, 2001d).

The research priorities identified by these and other recent reports provide a good starting point for the study. However, the scientific challenges will be formulated as compelling questions. This was done effectively for physics and astronomy in Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Questions for the New Century (NRC, 2003a), and that report will be used as a model.

Committee Charge and Schedule

References

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2002, Living on a Restless Planet, Solid Earth Science Working Group Report, Pasadena, CA., 63 pp.
• National Research Council, 2004, Review of NASA's Solid-Earth Science Strategy, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 56 pp.
• National Research Council, 2003a, Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Questions for the New Century, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 222 pp.
• National Research Council, 2003b, Living on an Active Earth: Perspectives on Earthquake Science, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 418 pp.
• National Research Council, 2001a, A Strategic Vision for Department of Energy Environmental Quality Research and Development, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 170 pp.
• National Research Council, 2001b, Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 154 pp.
• National Research Council, 2001c, Future Roles and Opportunities for the U.S. Geological Survey, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 179 pp.
• National Research Council, 2001d, Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 96 pp.
• National Research Council, 2000, Research Needs in Subsurface Science: U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Management Science Program, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 159 pp.
• National Research Council, 1993, Solid-Earth Sciences and Society, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 345 pp.