Supported projects may involve water in the form of precipitation, lakes, streams, and groundwater, and interactions with landforms, soils, the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the Earth's crust. The program encourages integrated studies of water balance and fluxes among the various reservoirs. Instrumentation and Facilities - Supports the acquisition or upgrade of equipment required for research, the development of new instrumentation and techniques that extend current research capabilities in the earth sciences, the operation of multiuser regional or national facilities that provide access to complex and expensive instrument or data base systems for a significant segment of the earth sciences research community, and the funding of research technicians. Petrology and Geochemistry - Supports research on igneous, metamorphic, and hydrothermal processes that occur within the Earth and other planetary bodies and on the minerals, rocks, fluids, and ore deposits resulting from these processes. Included are studies in mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, volcanology, geochemistry, and economic geology.
Supported research includes field, laboratory, theoretical, and computational studies.
Tectonics - Involves studies in structural geology, tectonics, geochronology, petrology, paleomagnetics, and other fields related to understanding the tectonic history of the lithosphere through time. Supported research includes field, laboratory, and theoretical studies of the processes and kinematics accompanying deformation at plate boundaries and in plate interiors. Certain research areas within the Division of Earth Sciences may be selected for emphasis on the basis of special scientific opportunities. Frequently, these are related to areas of national priority such as the environment, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program. The following is a list of Special Emphasis Areas in the EAR Division.