Workshop: MYRES V - The Sedimentary Record of Landscape Dynamics

Workshop: MYRES V - The Sedimentary Record of Landscape Dynamics

by

Elizabeth Hajek, EAR-1234050, PennState Univ.

ABSTRACT

Sedimentary deposits comprise important records of information necessary to 1) quantitatively reconstruct and predict landscape dynamics across a range of timescales, 2) identify ancient tectonic and climatic conditions on Earth, and 3) understand landscape response to tectonic and climatic forcing. An outstanding challenge for geoscientists is to decode this archive in order to understand the evolution of Earth's environments over a range of temporal and spatial scales. To this end, the research interests of geomorphologists, sedimentologists, and stratigraphers have started to converge on processes that produce, transport, and deposit sediment over millennial timescales and beyond. Virtual Workshop and the final two days will revolve around discussion-stimulating field trips through erosional landscapes and stratigraphic deposits in Central Utah. This will be the fifth biennial Meeting of Young Researchers in Earth Science (MYRES) meeting. Early-career faculty and research scientists who participated in previous MYRES workshops have become leaders in their fields and helped build foundations for ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations. Continued support of MYRES will sustain and strengthen this grassroots initiative that has helped jumpstart research in important cutting-edge areas of Earth science. As part of interdisciplinary community building and communication during MYRES V, time will be dedicated to learning about the NSF's EarthCube initiative and discussing how collaborative efforts between geodynamicists, geomorphologists, sedimentologists and stratigraphers (and others) could be aided by EarthCube. To this end, plenary discussion on the third day of the workshop will comprise a virtual workshop about EarthCube. This workshop will be hosted online (e.g., via Skype), will include EarthCube representatives, and, if possible, other interested virtual attendees. Throughout the MYRES V workshop we will be discussing many topics listed in the EarthCube GEO Domain Virtual Workshop Goals, including 1) science drivers within and beyond MYRES V fields in the immediate future and up to 15 years out, 2) current challenges and limitations to interdisciplinary science (including data discovery, modeling, integrating disparate data types and sources, etc.), 3) existing database and modeling resources, and 4) tools, databases, and modeling capabilities that MYRES V communities would like to see developed.