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The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins (1997)

Chapter: FRONT MATTER

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
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The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins

Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins

U.S. Geodynamics Committee

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1997

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this study by the Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. Research supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, under USGS Agreement No. 1434-95-A-01313, and by the U.S. Department of Energy under DOE Grant No. DE-FG22-95BC14823. U.S. DOE patent clearance is not required prior to publication of this report.

Copies of this report are available from:

U.S. Geodynamics Committee

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

National Research Council

2101 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20418

Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

0-309-05679-9

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins

WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, Chair,

University of Arizona, Tucson,

Emeritus

ROGER N. ANDERSON,

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York

KEVIN T. BIDDLE,

Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, Texas

H. EDWARD CLIFTON,

Conoco, Inc., Houston, Texas

GRANT GARVEN,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

MICHAEL C. GURNIS,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

RAYMOND V. INGERSOLL,

University of California, Los Angeles

MICHELLE A. KOMINZ,

University of Texas at Austin

ELIZABETH L. MILLER,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

LYNN M. WALTER,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

JEFFREY L. WARNER,

Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, La Habra, California

PAUL WEIMER,

University of Colorado, Boulder

JOSEPH T. WESTRICH,

Shell Oil Co., Houston, Texas

PETER KARL ZEITLER,

Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

National Research Council Staff

CHARLES MEADE, Study Director

VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

U.S. Geodynamics Committee

WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, Chair,

University of Arizona, Tucson,

Emeritus

DON L. ANDERSON,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

KEVIN T. BIDDLE,

Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, Texas

RICHARD CARLSON,

Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C.

THURE CERLING,

University of Utah, Salt Lake City

MARK P. CLOOS,

University of Texas at Austin

RICHARD S. FISKE,

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

GRANT GARVEN,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

THOMAS A. HERRING,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

RAYMOND JEANLOZ,

University of California, Berkeley

ELIZABETH L. MILLER,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

DAVID T. SANDWELL,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

LYNN M. WALTER,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

National Research Council Staff

CHARLES MEADE, Senior Program Officer

VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

J. FREEMAN GILBERT, Chair,

University of California, San Diego

THURE CERLING,

University of Utah, Salt Lake City

MARK P. CLOOS,

University of Texas at Austin

JOEL DARMSTADTER,

Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

KENNETH I. DAUGHERTY,

E-Systems, Fairfax, Virginia

WILLIAM R. DICKINSON,

University of Arizona, Tucson,

Emeritus

MARCO T. EINAUDI,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

NORMAN H. FOSTER, Independent Petroleum Geologist,

Denver, Colorado

CHARLES G. GROAT,

University of Texas, El Paso

DONALD C. HANEY,

University of Kentucky, Lexington

SUSAN M. KIDWELL,

University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

SUSAN KIEFFER,

Kieffer & Woo, Inc., Palgrave, Ontario

PHILIP E. LaMOREAUX,

P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc., Tuscaloosa, Alabama

SUSAN M. LANDON,

Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver, Colorado

J. BERNARD MINSTER,

University of California, San Diego

ALEXANDRA NAVROTSKY,

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

JILL D. PASTERIS,

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

EDWARD C. ROY, Jr.,

Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

National Research Council Staff

CRAIG M. SCHIFFRIES, Director

THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Director

WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer

ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer

CHARLES MEADE, Senior Program Officer

LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Associate

VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Assistant

JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant

JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Assistant

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

PATRICK R. ATKINS,

Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

JAMES P. BRUCE,

Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Ontario

WILLIAM L. FISHER,

University of Texas at Austin

JERRY F. FRANKLIN,

University of Washington, Seattle

DEBRA S. KNOPMAN,

Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.

PERRY L. McCARTY,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

JUDITH E. McDOWELL,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

S. GEORGE PHILANDER,

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

RAYMOND A. PRICE,

Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario

THOMAS C. SCHELLING,

University of Maryland, College Park

ELLEN K. SILBERGELD,

University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore

VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,

Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida

National Research Council Staff

STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director

MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director

GREGORY SYMMES, Reports Officer

JAMES MALLORY, Administrative Officer

SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate

MARQUITA SMITH, PC Analyst

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is interim president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and interim vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

Preface

On behalf of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Research Council, the U.S. Geodynamics Committee (USGC) examines the health and efficacy of geoscience research programs important for the national interest. As early as 1992, the USGC had identified basic research on the genesis and evolution of sedimentary basins as a crucial arena because of its value for reconstructing vertical movements of the lithosphere and varied environmental changes through geologic time, its impact on understanding the scope and distribution of vital resources of fossil fuels, and its implications for ground-water management and waste disposal. The USGC also perceived that needed advances in the field were at potential risk for two reasons: (1) changes in funding practices by governmental agencies and industry groups have called into question traditional patterns of research support, and (2) salient opportunities for future research entail interdisciplinary collaboration among groups of geoscientists not accustomed to close coordination.

In early 1995 the National Research Council appointed the Panel on the Geodynamics of Sedimentary Basins of the USGC. The panel was charged with identifying and evaluating significant research problems that can and should be addressed by multidisciplinary studies of sedimentary basins, new techniques and approaches that could be brought to bear on aspects of the required research, and the cross-

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
×

disciplinary ties and collaborative efforts essential to attack key questions in the field. The panel met twice over six months. The present report incorporates the findings and recommendations of the panel from its detailed appraisal of the current status and future prospects for research on the origins and development of sedimentary basins. In all its deliberations the panel adopted a firmly integrative approach to the subject, embodying the dual vision that studies conducted within basins have broad implications for geodynamic relations outside basins and that studies about basins include insights derived from knowledge of general geodynamic relations in the world as a whole.

Mindful of the severe fiscal constraints currently faced by research managers both within and outside government, the panel's report does not call for infusions of new funding to pursue needed avenues of research. Instead, it attempts to outline strategies whereby available support can be used more efficiently within a context of collaborative efforts designed to achieve more integrative analysis of the dynamics of sedimentary basins by researchers in government, industry, and academia. From the perspective of the panel, professional societies also have a key role to play in fostering joint work with a total impact greater than the simple sum of its parts.

The report is thus intended for a double audience. On the one hand, it calls to the attention of individual researchers ways in which their particular expertise can be applied effectively to outstanding questions in a collaborative context. On the other hand, it calls to the attention of research managers and other professional leaders ways in which a more integrative approach to basin analysis can lead to enhanced dividends from research expenditures. The advice that the panel offers is intentionally not phrased in overly specific terms, which would not be appropriate for a wide audience. The panel believes that the fresh perspectives it presents have the potential to stimulate innovative research design and programmatic arrangements that can improve the net intellectual yield from future research efforts. Because of the centrality of basin analysis to many fundamental and practical aspects of geoscience, basin studies have the potential to exert a powerful integrative influence on future geoscience research. Our report attempts to show how.

WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, PANEL CHAIR

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. The Dynamics of Sedimentary Basins. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5470.
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