Provided by Dan Orange on April 10, 2019, to update information presented at the meeting.  It covers the two topics of 1) Market Price by Vessel type, and 2) Global Seismic Fleet Evolution in 14 slides.

These slides were used in the second webinar.

Please note, this is a revised version of the options document

Prepared by Alexander Shor for the 30 January 2019 webinar discussion.

Presented here are some of the specific issues that need to be addressed at the April 2019 meeting to guide NSF in planning how to provide suitable facilities for future active-source deep crustal and 3-D seismic research programs. I identify two or three basic operational choices to be considered at the April 1-3 meeting, and then I provide a set of topics to refine those options using subsidiary topics.

As geoscience students from 36 academic institutions across the United States and abroad, we are writing to express our concerns regarding NSF’s announcement “Towards a New Approach for the Provision of Marine Seismic Capabilities to the U.S. Research Community,” featured in the Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) published on April 10, 2018. We are deeply worried about the severe impacts the decision to divest the R/V Marcus G. Langseth will have on the international research community and in particular on geoscience students, who represent the future of our field.

Proposals are solicited to support needs of the marine seismic research community that are currently provided by the specialized seismic research vessel R/V Marcus G. Langseth. The vessel is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO). NSF has determined that the current operational model is unsustainable and, with this solicitation, seeks proposals that provide comparable access to marine seismic capability through innovative approaches to R/V Marcus G. Langseth use or by other means. 

The successful proposal will be administered as a Cooperative Agreement over the five-year period of performance.

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2017/nsf17563/nsf17563.htm#toc

We are writing as a group of multi-disciplinary early-career scientists in response to NSF’s announcement “Dear Colleague Letter: Towards a New Approach for the Provision of Marine Seismic Capabilities to the U.S. Research Community” published on April 10th, 2018 (NSF 18-061). As users of marine seismic and related data, we are deeply concerned by NSF’s decision to divest the R/V Marcus G. Langseth with no replacement plan to ensure continued access to deep-penetration marine seismic imaging capabilities.

General map showing completed, planned, and proposed study areas for R/V Langseth from 2017-2020.

The aim of this document is to describe, in the broadest possible terms, the desired characteristics of an academic active-source seismic capability to replace the capabilities currently provided by R/V Marcus G. Langseth. The path forward for identifying and selecting replacement capabilities includes a focused workshop in early 2019, and it is our hope that this document will be helpful in the preparation for that meeting.

On September 30 and October 1, 2015 a group of ~39 scientists, engineers, seismic industry experts, and NSF program managers gathered for a 1.5 day workshop to discuss future possibilities for marine seismic data acquisition by the US academic research community. The workshop was conceived as a follow-up to the recent decadal survey of ocean sciences “The Sea Change” Report, which addressed the current issue of increasing science operational costs and the growing imbalance between operational costs relative to science support.

The Marine Seismic Research Oversight Committee (MSROC) was established by UNOLS in 2017 to provide scientific oversight and strategic advice to NSF regarding marine seismic data acquisition facilities and assets. In this role, we provide this letter to express our deep concern with the outcome of the NSF 17-563 Solicitation and the near-term disruption in leading-edge marine seismic capabilities that this will cause, as described in the NSF 18-061 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), and to suggest actions to address these concerns. The membership is unanimous in the desire to work closely with NSF to establish a sustainable model for the provision of leading-edge marine seismic capabilities, and also to support the marine geoscience community through the transition from current R/V Langseth operations to a sustainable long-term solution.

The R/V Marcus G. Langseth joined the U.S. academic fleet in 2008 and serves as an oceanographic research vessel, with special focus on marine seismic profiling.  The Langseth is owned by NSF and operated by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory under a cooperative agreement.

The survey results show that marine seismic data underpin or are the centerpiece of current research for a large, diverse community -- both marine seismologists and non-experts. The range of research areas encompassed by respondents expressing a need for marine seismic data spans nearly the full scope of MG&G science. A need for improved “how-to” information, training and accessible/affordable processing capability is highlighted in the responses -- some of this concern can be addressed in the near term, some aspects warrant a longer term effort.

This Dear Colleague Letter outlines the Division of Ocean Sciences' (OCE) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) decision regarding supporting the marine seismic community's need for long-term, sustainable access to seismic data collection capability.

Seventy percent of Earth’s surface geology is under water, but let’s face it: There are few options for exploring beneath the seafloor, and the limited number of techniques for subseafloor exploration presents a challenge. But with modern seismic imaging, this challenge is surmountable, and the opportunities are extremely exciting.  The real challenge at present is finding financial support.

Increasing the Access to and the Relevance of Marine Seismic Data; San Francisco, California, 11–13 December 2014

Against a backdrop of increasing fiscal challenges to ocean sciences infra- structure, academic, industry, and government representatives of the marine seismic data community met in San Francisco on 11–13 December 2014, just prior to the AGU Fall Meeting.

This study addresses the strategic investments necessary at NSF to ensure a robust ocean scientific enterprise over the next decade.

NSF received the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences (NRC/NAS) report “Sea Change: A Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences, 2015-2025” in late January 2015.  This communication constitutes NSF’s reply to Sea Change.