美国《洋陆边缘科学计划2004》述评

COMMENTS ON THE “NSF MARGINS PROGRAM SCIENCE PLANS 2004”

经过16年对科学问题的凝练,美国自然科学基金会公布了《洋陆边缘科学计划2004》。该文献确定了洋陆边缘的4个主要研究领域,即大陆岩石圈裂解、俯冲带物质转换、地震带实验、源 汇系统。该计划传递的一个重要信息是:现代海洋地质科学的重点已经从区域特征的刻画转向“过程”和“方法”的研究,即用系统科学的观点来理解过程、机制、动力学,发展和应用多学科交叉方法、过程模型方法、新型现场观测和采样技术。掌握这些最新动态对于我国边缘海基础研究的进一步深入是十分重要的。

A product of 16 years’ effort, the newly published “NSF MARGINS Program Science Plans 2004” describes in detail four important scientific themes, i.e., Rupturing Continental Lithosphere, Subduction Factory, the Seismogenic Zone Experiment, and Source-to-Sink, for the field of ocean-continent margin researches. An important message from the document to us is that the major foci of modern marine geological sciences have been transferred to “process” and “methodology” aspects, in contrast to the traditional view that earth sciences mainly deal with regional characteristics. The emphasis on process studies implies that the concepts of processes, mechanisms and dynamics should be understood with a systematic view. In order to undertake such studies, new methods and techniques, such as approaches to multidisciplinary research, process models and new measurement/sampling technology, are required. These views should be considered in the marginal sea research in China.