EOS-Solid Earth Geophysic

EOS Transactions, American Geophysical Union Vol. 63 No. 23 June 8, 1982

EOS, vol. 63, no. 23, June 8, 1982, pages 529, 531

Editorial Solid Earth Geophysics From the Foreign Secretary

T h e C o m m i t t e e on I n t e r n a t i o n a l Part icipa­tion (CIP) has given h igh pr ior i ty to a p r o ­g r a m of increased coope ra t i on with o u r col­leagues in Latin Amer ica over the nex t few-years. O u r goal is i m p r o v e m e n t of educa t ion in geophysics a n d s t imula t ion of increased re­search activity in all of t he geophysical sci­ences. As a nat ional scientific society with a p r imary mission of p r o m o t i n g a n d dissemi­na t ing research t h r o u g h mee t ings a n d publ i­cations, we d o not have a b u n d a n t r e sources to p u t into a massive p r o g r a m of the k ind re­qu i red to solve the p r o b l e m s . B u t the C I P is convinced that t h e r e a r e mutua l ly beneficial activities that can be ca r r i ed o u t within o u r means tha t will con t r i bu t e to p rog re s s toward the goal. We a re also convinced tha t a pr i ­mary r e q u i r e m e n t for success is solid infor­mat ion f rom the scientific c o m m u n i t y in Lat­in Amer ica abou t the k inds of activities that a re likely to bea r fruit. T h e C I P is, t h e r e f o r e , t rying to establish a n e t w o r k of c o r r e s p o n ­den t s in Cent ra l and S o u t h Amer i ca to w h o m we can t u r n for advice a n d sugges t ions . We , the re fo re , especially welcome the following unsolici ted express ion of op in ion abou t t he needs a n d p rob lems of geophysics in Lat in Amer ica . We h o p e tha t o t h e r col leagues in those count r ies , w h e t h e r A G U m e m b e r s o r not, will send their ideas to t he C I P o r to Eos for publ icat ion.

Car l Kisslinger

An Analysis From Inside

In 1977, d u r i n g a session of an in t e rna t ion ­al mee t ing with the g e n e r a l t h e m e of 'Geo­physics in the Amer icas , ' several r e sea rche r s f rom bo th Latin A m e r i c a n a n d 'outs ide ' count r ies p r e sen t ed a n overview of solid-ea r th geophysics in Lat in Amer ica . While em­phasiz ing the i m p o r t a n c e of t he s tudy of the Americas and no t ing possible significant ad­vances in knowledge a n d p r o g r a m s re la t ing to the distinct geophysical disciplines, t h e r e was genera l concern (echoed also by m a n y who did not a t t end t h e mee t ing) abou t t he low n u m b e r of works pub l i shed by Lat in Amer icans in in te rna t iona l j o u r n a l s . It was po in ted ou t at the s ame t ime tha t t h e r e was a relatively large n u m b e r of works pub l i shed in local j o u r n a l s and tha t t h e r e was p e r h a p s a m u c h larger p r o p o r t i o n of u n p u b l i s h e d ma-

Cover. Map , in eccentr ic d ipo le coord i ­nates , of the six IMS ( In t e rna t iona l Mag-ne tospher ic Study) m e r i d i a n chains of sta­tions a n d of s t a n d a r d magne t i c observa­tories whose da ta a r e used in the recen t workshop . For m o r e in fo rma t ion , see mee t ing r e p o r t .

terial. However , it was a d m i t t e d tha t .most of that work, as it s t ands , was no t of a scope suitable for an in t e rna t iona l a u d i e n c e , a n d the re was h o p e tha t t he s i tuat ion would change in the n e a r fu tu re . I n d e e d , t h e r e were a l ready some indicat ions of fu tu re promise . Aldnch [1973] s tated in a gues t edi­torial for Eos that ' In ear l ie r years most of the studies of the reg ion were ca r r i ed ou t by U.S. geophysicists, local scientists hav ing only a mi­n o r role. T h e si tuat ion has c h a n g e d , a n d now A n d e a n geophysicists can o p e r a t e i n d e p e n ­dent ly o r as p a r t n e r s in major u n d e r t a k i n g s . '

Now, several years later , we a r e forced to recognize tha t t he s i tuat ion is still a long way from be ing acceptable . W h y a re we in this sit­uat ion? T h e r e seem to be m a n y causes, a n d each Latin A m e r i c a n r e s e a r c h e r can almost certainly c o m m e n t on a n u m b e r of t h e m . Ac­cordingly, I would like to c o m m e n t on some of the factors tha t I believe a r e i m p o r t a n t .

A m u n d a n e , bu t very i m p o r t a n t , practical factor is the financing of r e sea rch . Lat in Amer ican coun t r i e s face severe economic p rob lems , a n d basic r esea rch is o n e of the most poorly a t t e n d e d i tems in na t iona l b u d ­gets. T h e impl icat ions of this factor a re obvi­ous. It results in a low n u m b e r of r e sea rch in­stitutions a n d individuals . C a r e e r p rospec t s a re low, a n d y o u n g m i n d s t u r n to m o r e ' p ro ­ductive ' a reas ; m a n y active r e sea r che r s even go into those a reas o r try to e x p a n d the i r ho ­rizons ab road . M o d e r n geophysical r e sea rch is expensive . If a d e q u a t e s u p p o r t is no t p r o ­vided, r e sea rche r s m u s t a d d r e s s themselves to less costly research activities o r k e e p o n us ing old a n d / o r o u t d a t e d e q u i p m e n t , which gene r ­ally results in loss of t ime a n d low product iv i ­ty levels. Low p r o d u c t i o n can ha rd ly get m o r e s u p p o r t , a n d so the s i tuat ion t e n d s to get worse. It is ev iden t tha t a v igorous na t ion­al p r o g r a m , well s u p p o r t e d for a long-con­t inu ing effort, is great ly n e e d e d . I n t e r n a t i o n ­al coopera t ion f rom organ iza t ions a l ready in­volved in f u n d i n g geophysical r e sea rch activities, such as t he O r g a n i z a t i o n of A m e r i ­can States (OAS), U N E S C O , a n d the Ins t i tu to P a n a m e r i c a n o d e Geograf ia e His tor ia ( IPGH) , can great ly a d d to na t iona l efforts. O t h e r possibilities of p roduc t ive re la t ionships include those be tween associat ions such as t he Amer ican Geophysica l U n i o n (AGU) , the So­ciety of Exp lo ra t ion Geophysicis ts (SEG), the A m e r i c a n A s s o c i a t i o n for t he A d v a n c e m e n t of Science (AAAS), univers i t ies a n d resea rch insti tutions, a n d even single g r o u p s a n d indi­viduals a n d the i r c o u n t e r p a r t s in Lat in A m e r ­ica.

Latin A m e r i c a n re sea rch g r o u p s face m a n y o the r difficulties. C o n t e m p o r a r y 'big science, ' with its e n o r m o u s a m o u n t of mate r ia l a n d its rapidi ty of c h a n g e at r e sea rch f ront iers does requ i re tha t active, p r o d u c t i v e scientists n o longer be isolated scholars bu t b e c o m e in­volved in a wide - rang ing , o n g o i n g c o m m u n i ­cation process [Price, 1963]. Yet, mos t Lat in Amer ican scientists a r e ou t of the c o m m u n i ­cations channe l s , par t icular ly those of the in­formal type {Johns Hopkins University Center for Research in Scientific Communication, 1970]. T h e in format ion f rom in fo rma l sources such as local col leagues, nonlocal col leagues , meet ­ing p resen ta t ions , technical r e p o r t s , p r e ­pr ints , a n d disser ta t ions , which is essential for frontier research [Garvey and Tomita, 1972], is practically nonex i s t en t in Lat in Amer ica . It is because of this tha t pe r sona l re la t ionships , and coope ra t ion f rom fore ign societies, un i ­versities, a n d re sea rch ins t i tu t ions may p rove

most valuable. Access to the in fo rma l c o m m u ­nication system will great ly e n h a n c e the possi­bilities, a n d i n d e e d p r o d u c t i o n , within t he 'big science' of Latin A m e r i c a n r e sea r che r s . Unless the g a p is closed, we Latin A m e r i c a n s will always be lagging in t he r e sea rch ad­vances. T o be res t r ic ted to t he use of fo rmal in format ion , such as j o u r n a l s a n d books , is to use s econd -hand in fo rma t ion , a n d as Garvey and Tomita [1972] have r e m a r k e d , ' journals in geophysics a re n o longer the "ho t " m e d i u m for the d isseminat ion of c u r r e n t scientific findings.' F u r t h e r , in some cases even the ac­cess to the formal l i t e ra tu re is l imited, since j o u r n a l s a n d books a r e bo th expens ive a n d n u m e r o u s . Es tab l i shment of a massive p r o ­g r a m of visiting scientists, in bo th d i rec t ions , bu t especially of fore ign scientists to Lat in Amer i can research cen te rs , is u rgen t ly n e e d ­ed. Fore ign scientists may cons ide r imple­m e n t i n g research p r o g r a m s with Lat in A m e r ­ican col leagues a n d s p e n d i n g sabbatical leaves in Latin Amer ica . Lat in A m e r i c a n s may con­sider i m p r o v e m e n t s of incent ives for a t t ract ­ing bo th establ ished a n d y o u n g scientists for t e m p o r a r y , a n d even p e r m a n e n t , posts . T h i s will have widesp read benefi ts a n d may init iate a chain react ion toward defini te p rog res s . Pe rhaps , it is too m u c h to ask, bu t b e i n g ou t of the c o m m u n i c a t i o n system is s o m e t h i n g n o one can afford.

I would also like to a d d r e s s a del icate p r o b ­lem, which really does no t n e e d to exist. Some individuals a n d re sea rch ins t i tu t ions d o not u n d e r s t a n d the p r e s e n t political s i tuat ion a n d seem to ma in ta in a 'colonialist ' view abou t research in Latin Amer ica . Very of ten, extensive research activities a r e c o n d u c t e d in Latin A m e r i c a n coun t r i e s no t only wi thou t the consent of the respect ive scientific com­muni t ies a n d g o v e r n m e n t s bu t even wi thou t their knowledge . Fa i lu re to establish t he a p ­p r o p r i a t e contacts a n d to offer t he possibility of col laborat ion mus t be c o n s i d e r e d a b r e a c h of academic a n d resea rch ethics. In m a n y cas­es, Latin Amer i cans c o m e to know a b o u t spe­cific p r o g r a m s a n d works several years later , when formal publ ica t ions a r e c i rcula ted . I n the cases of mas ter ' s a n d doc to ra l theses , t he si tuation can even be worse . T o avoid t he na tu ra l frictions resu l t ing f rom such situa­tions, 'ou ts ide ' r e sea rche r s m u s t cons ide r no t only thei r own benefi t bu t tha t of t he p e o p l e of the coun t ry they a r e s tudy ing in, a n d per ­haps tha t of a very small c o m m u n i t y of col­leagues work ing with l imited r e sources a n d s t ruggl ing to o v e r c o m e the i r difficulties.

A n o t h e r p r o b l e m is tha t of g r a d u a t e a n d p o s t g r a d u a t e t r a in ing . Several aspects of t he educa t ion in geophysics in Lat in A m e r i c a have been c o m m e n t e d on o n m a n y occasions [e.g., see Lommitz, 1977; Kausel, 1977]. T h e p rob lem of educa t ion is critical, since in the­ory it offers a way to h e l p solve m a n y of t he o t h e r p rob lems , bu t also it implies a way of s inking even d e e p e r if we d o no t a p p r o a c h it correctly. G r a d u a t e t r a in ing has been o r is being i m p l e m e n t e d in m a n y coun t r i e s (i.e., in the major disciplines: physics, chemis t ry , ge­ology, eng inee r i ng , etc.). Howeve r , pos tg rad ­ua te t r a in ing l ead ing to mas te r s ' o r doc to ra l deg rees is no t offered in most coun t r i e s , a n d a few g r a d u a t e s tuden t s go to o t h e r coun t r i e s to con t inue the i r s tudies . Massive p r o g r a m s of financing s tuden t s in fore ign coun t r i e s , such as tha t of C O N A C Y T (Nat ional Counc i l of Science a n d T e c h n o l o g y , Mexico), offer several advan tages . T h i s p r o g r a m , with an equally we l l - suppor ted p r o g r a m tha t would

Thi s p a g e may be freely cop ied .