About SZ4D

SZ4D, or Subduction Zones in four Dimensions, is a community-driven initiative for a long-term, interdisciplinary research program to understand the limits and possibilities of predicting subduction zone geohazards. The group works together to create the multifaceted infrastructure and other resources needed to enable new discoveries. SZ4D brings together US-based and international scientists from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds who study earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and surface processes.

Learn more | What is a subduction zone

There are many ways to get involved in the SZ4D community and contribute to advancing subduction zone science:

• PURSUE cross-disciplinary science that connects across boundaries. Explore the SZ4D Implementation Plan for ideas.

• SHARE your science! Submit a Science Nugget or contribute a Science Corner to showcase your latest research.

• PARTICIPATE in SZ4D workshops, townhalls, and webinars to stay connected and help shape community initiatives.

• SUBSCRIBE to the listserv and e-newsletter to keep up-to-date on events and opportunities.

• EXPLORE the implementation plan and consider how to align your science with the common goals.

• REACH OUT to the SZ4D Managing Director to explore how SZ4D activities can help broaden the impact of your proposal.

• VOLUNTEER to serve on a committee and help steer SZ4D's direction.

If you’re interested in helping shape SZ4D’s direction, consider volunteering for a committee. SZ4D committees focus on both 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 build a well-balanced slate, considering factors such as scientific expertise and career stage. If you’re not selected right away, don’t worry - new opportunities open each year!

Learn more | Volunteer Opportunities

SZ4D’s planning and community-building efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation through from the Earth Sciences (EAR) and Ocean Sciences (OCE) Divisions, the GEO Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE). SZ4D does not currently have funding to directly support scientific research.

Learn more | SZ4D funding

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.

Learn more | The SZ4D's Collective Impact model

There is currently no dedicated program at NSF 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.

Learn more | SZ4D funding

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.

Learn more | SZ4D Implementation Plan

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.

The envisioned SZ4D instrumental network is currently in the design phase, as defined by the NSF Research Infrastructure Guide. As of Fall 2025, we anticipate submitting a proposal in the coming year to build the infrastructure that will enable the scientific research the SZ4D community has planned. The plan will involve building a cross-disciplinary, shoreline-crossing instrumental network over a five year period, and then operating it over the following decade. All data will be open to everyone, and can be used in your own research. The network proposal will build and operate the network and make the data available, but by itself that proposal will not fund scientific research. If this project is funded, you can assume that NSF will be looking for research proposals from individuals or groups to make use of it.

Learn more | SZ4D’s plans and developments for a MultiHazard Array

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 coordinate activities, community engagement, and workforce development to deepen our understanding of geohazards and strengthen hazard-mitigation efforts within a Collective Impact framework.

• 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 the launch of a full SZ4D program.

Learn more | The SZ4D Catalyst Proposal

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. The Aleutian and Alaska subduction zone has frequent and diverse eruptions and frequent earthquakes, making it a world-class natural laboratory for studying hazardous earthquake and volcanic processes.. The Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone poses severe hazards to local communities, although the overall risk is lower because of sparse population and infrastructure. Tsunamis generated by large earthquakes in Alaska represent a significant risk to Hawaii and parts of the US West Coast. SZ4D plans small, focused instrumental deployments at both of these subduction zones that will, in combination with data from Chile, allow researchers to answer key questions about hazards and hazardous processes.

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.

Learn more | SZ4D’s plans and developments for a MultiHazard Array

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 higher probability of capturing events in Chile (and Alaska) 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 | SZ4D's 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.

Learn more | SZNet

Take a look at our Events and News pages!

The best way to stay updated with our current opportunities and events is to subscribe to our listserv!

SZ4Grads is a collaborative and intercultural network of graduate students and recent graduates investigating subduction zones. SZ4Grads works with the Community Engagement and Workforce Development (CEWD) committee to bring early career scientists into the SZ4D community and make sure their priorities are represented throughout the initiative.

All graduate students currently studying subduction zones are invited to join SZ4Grads!

Learn more | SZ4Grads

SZ4D working groups and committees currently include 115 US and international members across disciplines. SZ4D serves a growing global community of more than 3,000 scientists from around the globe.

Learn more | SZ4D Governance

Absolutely. If you'd like to support SZ4D, please visit our donation page or contact our office for more information.