Scientists in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciense in Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA, will join researchers from other universities in investigating the high altitude topography of Mongolia starting this summer. The US National Science Foundation presented Lehigh”s EES department with a USD2.5 million grant, after rejecting two earlier proposals the researchers submitted.
The team decided to conduct research in Mongolia based on a paper written by Karl Wegmann, a former graduate student, who is now the project”s coordinator at North Carolina State University. Wegmann”s research concerning different high altitude regions of Mongolia sparked interest among Lehigh faculty studying how mountain ranges and other landscapes are formed.
The Hangay mountain range in central Mongolia was specifically chosen as a site for study because it is a spot where the crust of the earth is compressing and expanding at the same time, explained Bruce Idleman, a senior research scientist in the EES department. Professors Anne Meltzer and Peter Zeitler have analyzed continent collision in the Himalayas, but realized that Hangay range is unique because it is a place where these extreme pressures are being exerted inside a continental plate rather than at a place where two plates meet.
“This is just plain research about how the planet works, but, in the case of Mongolia, an interesting wrinkle is that right now the high topography in Mongolia is very important in the generation of storm systems that then cross the Pacific,” Zeitler said.
In March, Meltzer, Zeitler, Idleman and Professor Dork Sahagian will begin collaborating with scientists from Stanford University, North Carolina State University, the Carnegie Institute for Science, the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), the Mongolia Academy of Science, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Jean Monnet and University of New Hampshire.
Sahagian studies the history of uplift in the Hangay Mountains from the bubbles in lava flow in order to understand the timing of uplift, erosion and landscape change. “The key to research is to ask the right questions,” Sahagian said.
The project is not just limited to experienced scientists with vast knowledge of geological formations; it will also provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to receive training and international experience by working on a multidisciplinary project with Mongolian scientists. “We will be running a field research experience for undergraduates along with this project with a team of students from the U.S. and  MUST,” Meltzer said. “Lehigh students with the appropriate background and interests will have the opportunity to participate, conduct research, meet new people and see a wonderful country.”
The research team proposes to answer some significant questions, but there will also be significant challenges. Mongolia is a country of vast, open grasslands that has a mostly nomadic population. It lacks much of the necessary infrastructure for high intensity scientific research. The scientists predicted that it will be difficult to get around with limited transportation. They said it might also be difficult to find food.
There are other scheduling and logistical dilemmas having to do with when certain necessary equipment will be available. Even though some of the researchers have been to Mongolia, there are still many areas of the country that are unknown and unexplored. Idleman said this project will be exciting, but indeed scary as they approach an unfamiliar land.
According to the proposal the team submitted to the National Science Foundation, “The research project as a whole will be the focus of a feature-length documentary film aimed at Earth-science education and public outreach, and primary and interpreted project data will be available on the web for use in classrooms at various levels.”