Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
1 BASIC EARTH SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
11
Introduction
11
Applications of Basic Earth Science to National
Problems
14
The Agenda for Basic Research
26
2 SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES
35
The Critical Zone: Earth’s Near-Surface Environment
35
Geobiology
45
Earth and Planetary Materials
55
The Continents
62
Deep Interior
72
The Planets
82
3 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
89
Long-Term Support of Investigator-Driven Science
90
Major Initiatives
98
Support of Multidisciplinary Research
105
Instrumentation and Facilities
108
Education
112
Partnerships in Earth Science
116
Required Resources
120
APPENDIX A: Earth Science Programs
127
APPENDIX B: Community Input
147
ACRONYMS
153
CONTENTS
xiii
About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the
original work has been recomposed from XML files created
from the original paper book, not from the original
typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths,
word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific
formatting, however, cannot be retained,
and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted.
Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative
version for attribution.