Plate Boundary Observatory to Be Defined and Planned

The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) is a proposed facility for investigating active tectonic and magmatic processes of the Pacific/ Juan de Fuca­North American plate boundary through measurements of crustal deformation. The study of plate boundary deformation is a research area that deserves increased attention from a broad spectrum of Earth scientists. Toward that end, a workshop will be convened on October 3­5 in Snowbird, Utah, to help develop the plans for such an observatory. The PBO Steering Committee invites participation from a broad spectrum of earth scientists in a workshop to help define the PBO concept and plan for its implementation. The workshop will pro-duce a report outlining the scientific basis for the PBO, its instrumentation requirements and deployment strategy. It will describe the ways the facility can advance earth science research and contribute to education and outreach. The workshop will be limited to 100 participants. Each applicant to the workshop is asked to provide a brief statement of interests, including how he or she can contribute to the goals of the work-shop. Partial support (air travel, hotel, and meals) will be provided by workshop funds. The chief observational requirement of the PBO is a characteriza-tion of the three-dimensional deformation field over the maximum ranges of spatial and temporal scales. The PBO should be designed to study long-term, regional tectonic processes as well as shorter-term, smaller-scale processes that may be more closely related to natural hazards, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It is proposed that the PBO be coordinated and integrated with the proposed U.S. Array and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) projects as part of the EarthScope initiative being developed at NSF. In addition to advancing our basic scientific knowledge of active tectonic processes, the facility will improve seismic and volcanic hazard assessment and contribute to earth science education and out-reach in the U.S. The PBO Steering Committee consists of Yehuda Bock, Andrea Donnellan, Don Helmberger, Tom Henyey, Ken Hudnut, Gene Humphreys, Chris Marone, Meghan Miller, Bernard Minster, Barbara Romanowicz, Paul Segall, Paul Silver, Bob Smith, Seth Stein, Wayne Thatcher, George Thompson. The workshop is jointly sponsored by the NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, UNAVCO, IRIS, NASA, USGS, IGPP, and SCEC.