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Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) EarthScope funding opportunity (NSF 09-535) supports scientific research and related activities that use, expand, or are tightly connected to the EarthScope Facility, a large, integrated set of instruments and observatories designed to study the four-dimensional (3D structure through time) evolution and dynamics of the North American continent. EarthScope is built to enable continent-scale, interdisciplinary Earth science by dramatically improving observational coverage and data quality for geophysics and related fields. Through this solicitation, NSF sought proposals that would take advantage of EarthScope infrastructure to answer major questions about how the continent is built, how it deforms, and how deep Earth processes connect to surface hazards and landscapes.

At its core, the opportunity focuses on broad, integrated research themes that span the crust, mantle, and deep Earth, as well as active plate boundary systems. Examples of the science areas explicitly emphasized include fault properties and the physical processes that govern earthquakes; how strain accumulates and transfers across regions (a key issue for seismic hazard); the role of magmatic and water-rich (hydrous) fluids in the crust and mantle; plate boundary dynamics and the mechanics of deformation; large-scale continental deformation and mountain-building processes; continental structure, assembly, and long-term evolution; and the composition and structure of the deep Earth. The program is intentionally cross-cutting, encouraging work that combines multiple data types and disciplinary perspectives rather than isolating problems within a single subfield.

A central feature of EarthScope is its facility suite, which collectively provides an unprecedented observational network across North America. The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) contributes geodetic measurements (such as GPS and related deformation monitoring) that track how the crust moves and strains over time, especially around active plate boundaries. The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) offers direct access to an active fault zone at depth, supporting investigations into the physical conditions and materials that control fault slip and earthquake behavior. USArray provides a transportable and flexible seismic and geophysical array capability, enabling high-resolution imaging of crust and mantle structure across large regions. Together these facilities expand the capacity to image the subsurface, measure deformation, monitor ongoing activity, and connect short-term processes (like earthquakes) to long-term tectonic evolution.

Beyond research results, the solicitation underscores two enabling goals: education and data integration. EarthScope is positioned as a centralized forum for Earth science education at all levels, meaning proposals could include or support educational components that broaden participation, improve training, or translate EarthScope findings and data into learning experiences for students, educators, and the public. In parallel, NSF highlights the importance of cyberinfrastructure, recognizing that EarthScope generates diverse, high-volume datasets that require robust systems to integrate, distribute, and analyze data efficiently. Activities that improve data workflows, interoperability, and community access align with the program vision, especially when they help researchers synthesize geodetic, seismic, geologic, and other datasets into coherent interpretations.

In terms of award structure, this opportunity was issued as a discretionary program using cooperative agreements, indicating an expectation of substantial NSF involvement during the period of performance (often typical for large, coordinated efforts or facility-associated work). The funding activity category is science and technology and other research and development, and it is tied to CFDA 47.050 (Geosciences). NSF anticipated about 25 awards with an estimated total funding level of $12,000,000, and there was no cost-sharing or matching requirement stated.

Eligibility was described as unrestricted, meaning the competition was open to a broad range of applicant organizations, subject to any clarifications in the full solicitation text. NSF invited both single-investigator and collaborative proposals, reflecting the program’s emphasis on integrated, multi-institutional science that can leverage EarthScope’s continental-scale instrumentation and community datasets.

Finally, the timeline information shows that the solicitation was originally posted April 1, 2010, with full proposal deadlines of July 16, 2010 and July 16 annually thereafter. The opportunity is now archived and was replaced by NSF 11-535, with an archive date of March 30, 2011. For the complete requirements, proposal preparation rules, and any special EarthScope-specific guidance, NSF directed applicants to the official publication (NSF 09-535) and provided standard support contacts for access and linking issues.

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