Established over 15 years ago, the Institute for Crustal Studies was conceived as an interdisciplinary unit focused on the Earth's crust: its geologic and geophysical history, the resources contained within it, and the natural hazards that result from geological processes acting upon it. Given UCSB's setting along a major plate tectonic boundary where faulting of the Earth's crust has created a spectacular, but hazardous geologic setting, the natural purview of ICS researchers and teachers was the building of continents, creation of ocean basins, prediction of earthquake hazards, and utilization of natural resources. Today, the Institute for Crustal Studies spans a broader swath of disciplines than ever before and is expanding into new research arenas, such as the role of climate in shaping the landscape, astrobiology and the imprint of asteroids on the prehistoric Earth, or the fate of elusive chemicals in groundwater systems. Our emphasis remains on how the physical Earth works, but we recognize that deepening our understanding depends on quantifying the interactions that occur at key interfaces, be they boundaries between tectonic plates, oscillating shorelines separating oceans and land, or the ultimate interface: the Earth's surface itself where atmospheric and erosional processes interact with tectonic ones. In contrast to many sciences, the study of “deep time” is a key element of the research agenda at ICS. Thus, the evolution of life, as well as the growth and decay of continents and mountain ranges, provide a perspective on earth history that at times spans billions of years.

Today, ICS projects are being conducted on every continent, graduate and undergraduate students are traveling to China, New Zealand, Norway, Kyrgyzstan, and Antarctica to undertake thesis projects, and ICS scientists are collaborating with an expanding array of scientists and educators in foreign and domestic research sites.

Over the past year, ICS has continued to expand the purview of its research endeavor. In the field of Astrobiology, new projects were begun in testing the possibility that organic compounds can be formed through hypervelocity meteorite impacts and in determining the role that extraterrestrial impacts (e.g., a giant bolide) may have played in the greatest mass extinction in the history of life at the Permian-Triassic boundary. The former project builds on ongoing studies of biologically relevant compounds in carbon-bearing extraterrestrial rocks and exploits new laser ablation technologies, whereas the latter project combines stratigraphic studies with chemostratigraphy and analysis of extraterrestrial molecules and elements.  Major proposals have been submitted to develop instrumentation for detection of trace organic compounds on forthcoming NASA missions to Mars.

New educational grants to ICS PIs are funding both development of extensive graphical animations of geologic, geomorphic, and atmospheric processes for educational outreach to all ages and enhanced use of computerized databases in undergraduate courses to explore oceanographic problems and. Under the aegis of ICS researchers, three elementary and secondary schools in Nepal have been adopted as “sister” schools of Goleta classrooms, where exchanges of letters, maps, and art supplies are enhancing cultural understanding on both sides of the Pacific. In the field of stratigraphy, a new level of understanding of the 3-dimensional geometry of sedimentary sequences is being developed through the innovative use of ground-based laser ranging to generate high-resolution topographic images.

 

Exposures of strata in sinuous, but near-vertical walls often provide the clearest image of stratal geometries. In typical digital elevation models, however, vertical walls are commonly obscured. In contrast, this new field-based approach provides high resolution of vertical exposures, and when combined with the horizontal spatial data of traditional digital topography, these data reveal the geometries of sedimentary units with previously unattainable resolution.

 In the field of geomorphology, the currently unresolved problem of the rates, style, and processes of glacial erosion is being quantified in the Tien Shan of Kyrgyzstan. Also in the Tien Shan, the development of drainage networks and the interplay of fluvial and glacial processes in the erosion of mountain belts are being explored in two mountain ranges.  In the Nepalese Himalaya, 21 weather stations built by ICS researchers and reaching up to >14,000’ have produced a 4-year meteorological record of unprecedented detail for high mountain environments. When complemented with water and sediment discharge data, these climate data underpin studies of the controls on hillslope stability and landsliding and of sediment production from glaciated valleys. One of the more surprising results is that long-term erosion rates are not closely tied to rainfall amounts or intensity in the Himalaya. Instead, to compensate for decreased rainfall across the High Himalaya and to maintain nearly constant rapid erosion rates, hillslopes progressively steepen and river channels become both narrower and steeper.

The single largest new project in ICS this year was a major grant from the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES). The project will develop permanently instrumented field sites for the study of soil-foundation-structure interactions (SFSI) during seismic shaking. The overarching goal is to generate analytical and empirical models for accurate simulation of ground response and deformation and to understand how this seismically induced shaking affects building structures and foundations.

 

Map showing the number of times per century that shaking due to earthquakes is predicted to exceed 20% of the force of gravity. Also shown are the locations of the two field test sites to be developed under this new initiative.

 

This goal will be pursued via a two-pronged strategy. Intensive monitoring during natural earthquakes (which are quite common at the field sites which sit near the San Jacinto Fault) will provide benchmark case histories for model development and verification. Large “shake tables” will allow active shaking of both structures and the nearby ground to develop controlled experimental case studies. The project is enhancing existing, well-studied, and well-characterized seismic array sites that are currently administered and analyzed by ICS researchers: Wildlife and Garner Valley in southern California. The new SFSI test structure with shaker and structural instrumentation will be constructed at Garner Valley for the shake experiments. Following the initial two years of installation and testing of instrumentation, the site will be supported by NEES for a variety of experiments over the subsequent 10 years with additional funds totaling ~$4.5 M.

 

Models of the “shake table” that will be constructed at Garner Valley. Remote control of shakers and data acquisition systems coupled with streaming data will provide a unique research and educational facility for the earthquake engineering community.

 

 

Instigated by the success of the NEES initiative, almost every office in ICS’s Girvetz space was moved in order to bring researchers with shared interests into closer proximity, consolidate the NEES researchers into a single area, and provide better access to CNTs who serve general computing needs. New computing capabilities were installed this year to facilitate greater data storage, more reliable and frequent data back-ups, and more processing capability for large data sets and numerical modeling.

Diverse opportunities for students to gain international experience in field research were provided through several ICS research grants. Along with faculty advisors and ICS researchers, undergraduate and graduate students spent parts of the past year in Antarctica, China, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Mexico, and Taiwan.

This was another record-breaking year in terms of new funding for ICS researchers. After a decade in which annual external funding to ICS averaged ~$2 M/year, the past three years have seen new awards more than double. Last year new awards increased by 60%. This past year, new awards totaled $4.9 M, representing an additional ~40% increase with respect to the previous year.

 

This substantial increase in external funding has brought with it a commensurate increase in the administrative workload. For example, the number of funding agencies from which funds were requested and the number of projects administered each increased ~70% in two years. Several of the major projects represent multi-institutional collaborations that are being coordinated through ICS. Unfortunately, despite near doubling of the administrative bookkeeping and administration, institutional support from UCSB for administrative and computational staffing has remained rather static and lags behind other ORUs with similar amounts of external funding. With the current California budget crisis, little prospect exists for substantial remedies in the near future. As a consequence, we expect that many institutional activities that might be considered “peripheral,” such as outreach or newsletters, will languish as energy is focused on fundamental administrative needs.

 

 

Turnover within our administrative staff has presented challenges during the past year. When our AA III moved to UC Merced, this position was upgraded to that of an Analyst I and was subsequently filled by Tom Bennett. Our halftime AAII was filled on a temporary basis by Nicole Craig, and she now has a permanent appointment in that position. In order to meet the growing demands for purchasing, payroll, and travel at ICS, the OR provided an additional 25% support for the AAII position, and we have used internal ICS funds to augment this position to fulltime. Given the absolute necessity of performing the duties of this position to the ability of ICS to carry out its research role and given the present level of external funding through ICS, the Office of Research should find a way to convert this AAII position to full time.

The quality of the researchers at ICS is represented, at least in part, by the degree to which they are attractive to other institutions. This year, four ICS researchers accepted faculty positions at other universities. Although we will acutely miss the contributions that they have made to ICS, we are also proud of their accomplishments! After more than a decade at ICS during which he was a very successful and visible researcher, Kim Olsen will move to San Diego State University as an assistant professor in January, 2004. Mike Oskin, an assistant researcher for the past two years, will begin as an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina in January, 2004. Following one year as a postdoctoral researcher, Manny Gabet, begins as an assistant professor at the University of Montana in August, 2004. Sophie Peyrat, following a two-year postdoc at ICS, has accepted a new postdoctoral  position in Nice,  France. The Geophysical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava awarded Ralph Archuleta a commemorative medal ("100 Years of Seismology in Slovakia") acknowledging his service to the nation of Slovakia.