About SZ4D

There are many ways to get involved in the SZ4D community: PARTICIPATE in workshops, townhalls, and webinars. SUBSCRIBE to the listserv and e-newsletter to keep up-to-date on events. EXPLORE the implementation plan and consider how to align your science with the common goals. REACH OUT to the Collective Impact Committee to broaden your impact. VOLUNTEER to serve on a committee. If you’re interested in shaping SZ4D’s direction, consider volunteering for a committee. SZ4D committees focus on scientific and operational topics, and the volunteer form is open year-round. You can submit your interest at any time—or even nominate someone else! The Committee on Committees reviews submissions on a rolling basis to assemble a well-balanced slate, considering factors like scientific expertise and career stage. If you’re not selected right away, don’t worry—new opportunities arise each year!

SZ4D planning and community building efforts have been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation from the EAR and OCE divisions as well as the GEO directorate and the Office of International Science and Engineering. SZ4D does not currently have funding to directly support scientific research.

SZ4D seeks to be a community-driven scientific initiative that strives to fill in the major gaps in our understanding of geohazards by coordinating fundamental research and bringing together a range of geologic sub-disciplines and scientists. By leveraging a Collective Impact framework, in opposition to an Isolated Impact model, SZ4D fosters collaboration and advances a more integrated and sustainable approach to conduct the science outlined in the SZ4D Implementation Plan.

There is currently no dedicated program that exclusively and specifically funds research projects associated with SZ4D. NSF welcomes proposals for SZ4D-related science to the core programs following the normal deadlines. Referring to the SZ4D Science Implementation Plan in your proposal will help make the Broader Impacts of your work clear. The more clearly we all articulate how our efforts contribute to the SZ4D vision, the better we can position NSF and its partner agencies to develop a more coordinated funding plan.

Per NSF Guidelines, SZ4D may provide a Letter of Collaboration only for proposals that require a commitment of action or resources by SZ4D. Requests for Letters of Collaboration should be jointly addressed to the Chair of the Steering Committee and the closest disciplinary contact in the SZ4D Governance structure. Appropriate disciplinary contacts might include co-chairs of any of the Committees that are closely aligned with the effort. For full consideration, requests should be received at least 3 weeks prior to required submission date. All requests for Letters of Collaboration will be discussed and voted on by the Steering Committee. Criteria for approval include alignment with the SZ4D mission and appropriate use of SZ4D resources. Approved Letters of Collaboration will be signed by the Chair of the Steering Committee and/or the disciplinary contact on behalf of SZ4D.

The Collective Impact Committee (CIC) is designed to help coordinate SZ4D science and outreach efforts in the current absence of a dedicated funding program. PIs are encouraged to contact the CIC to discuss opportunities for coordination. As PIs consider proposals to build components of SZ4D, the CIC has developed an initial set of questions to help PIs design proposals that coordinate with SZ4D. When it comes to designing efforts to accomplish broader impacts that are aligned with SZ4D, the BECG chapter of the Implementation Plan is currently the best starting point. If your proposal involves a workshop that might require SZ4D staff assistance, please contact us so that we can coordinate an appropriate budget to help you.

SZ4D is currently in the development phase, as defined by the NSF Research Infrastructure Guide. We anticipate entering the design phase over the next few years and then fully building the infrastructure and accompanying science over the following decade.

The expansive vision of SZ4D needs cost estimates, time phasing, and project planning in order to prepare for full submission to NSF and any partnering agencies. The purpose of the Catalyst Center is to help accomplish this development quickly. The major components of the SZ4D catalyst effort are: A STAFFED CENTER to organize the development work and Build Equity and Capacity with Geoscience (BECG) following a Collective Impact model. TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT to realistically evaluate costs and trade-offs of instrumentation options; and PREPARATORY WORK for the geological, modeling and laboratory facilities, including workshops and modest engineering design work. All of these specific activities have been strategically selected because they directly affect high-priority elements of the implementation plan. They have identifiable, tractable development needs that should be addressed prior to launch of a full SZ4D program.

The Washington and Oregon margins have the largest associated risk of any domestic subduction zone and thus deserves special attention. The societal implications associated with a major volcanic eruption or the ground shaking and tsunami associated with the eventual magnitude 9 earthquake weigh heavily on the region. However, the slow convergence rate and low rates of events present challenges to capturing the relevant data. The Aleutian and Alaska subduction zone has frequent and diverse eruptions and frequent earthquakes, however the glacial history makes aspects of the landscape system difficult to study. The hostile climate also presents formidable logistical challenges. The ideal study strategy is thus to strategically collect data on a faster, accessible subduction zone that can provide the information on human timescales that will ultimately be important to interpreting and predicting the future behavior of the United States’ most prominent subduction zone. This comparative subductology approach demands a coordinated plan to use modeling, strategically selected domestic data collection, and fundamental understanding to connect the data from the more rapid analog to the domestic hazards. A current effort of SZ4D is to craft the domestic instrumentation and activity priority targets that will maximize the impact of the comparative approach.

The 4500 km of geologically active continental subduction zone encompassed in the single country of Chile make it globally unique. Factors such as slab dip, convergence rate, and climate vary systematically along the subduction zone, which allows many comparative experiments to be carried out. The Chilean subduction zone experienced the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in 1960 and many magnitude 8 or larger earthquakes since then. There are 96 volcanoes with eruptions in the Holocene with 33 discrete eruptions in the twenty-first century including several on the Chile-Argentina and Chile-Bolivia borders. The Chilean subduction zone possesses nearly all of the high-priority scientific attributes identified by the SZ4D working groups. Opportunities presented by the Chilean subduction zone have produced efforts in the region spanning the shoreline for decades. Moreover, there is a robust community of Chilean and Argentinian geohazard scientists - in both academic and observatory settings - working with international partners to develop instrumentation allowing collection of high quality data in targeted areas. The majority of SZ4D’s new long-term instrumentation efforts will occur on the Chilean margin. The high probability of capturing events maximizes the possibility of gaining timely scientific insight that can help understand hazards at the domestic subduction zone with the highest risk: Cascadia. The ideal study strategy is to combine a study of Cascadia with a faster subducting analog that can provide the information on human timescales that will ultimately be important to interpreting and predicting the future behavior of the United States’ most prominent subduction zone. Learn more about SZ4D regions of special interest and the processes implemented by SZ4D to identify regions of special interest

The geoscience community is active in approaching the science and mitigation of geohazards on many fronts. SZ4D works to complement and leverage efforts from other facilities, science centers, international collaborations, and public policy groups. SZ4D is distinguished by specifically concentrating on applying a comparative strategy to fundamental geohazard science with an emphasis on collecting and integrating new observations across subduction systems. Our most important coordination mechanism is SZNet, funded through NSF AccelNet program. SZNet - the international collaboration component of SZ4D - is designed to provide an umbrella organization that can help align efforts in the US, Chile and around the world.

Take a look at our Events and News pages!

SZ4Grads is a collaborative and intercultural network of graduate students and recent graduates investigating subduction zones. SZ4Grads works with the BECG committee to help bring early career scientists into the SZ4D community and make sure their priorities are well represented throughout the initiative. All graduate students currently studying subduction zones are invited to join SZ4Grads.

SZ4D working groups, integrative groups, and committees currently include 135 US and international committee members across disciplines. SZ4D serves a growing community of 3000 scientists from around the globe.

Absolutely. If you are interested in helping support SZ4D please visit the donation page or contact our office.