Our agreement and a thirst for knowledge

A critical part of the engagement between USC and the Timor Leste Institute of Petroleum and Geology is a formal declaration of our involvement.  In past deployments, we have developed such agreements in a much more casual manner.  I met with the president of IPG to review our proposed agreement – ultimately to formalize our Memorandum of Understanding – but came away with a much better understanding what motivates IPG to welcome us to the country.

Beyond the tweaking of verbage and clarification of language, the primary update to our MoU was the inclusion of statements about training and transfer of knowledge.  Everyone is impressed by the proposed lot of research that will be carried out over the upcoming years, but these findings will be only remotely practical for Timor Leste.  IPG sees the opportunity to accumulate permanent knowledge that can be applied to long-term efforts to grow the country's infrastructure.  Accordingly, we included specific plans to train staff members on the techniques of seismic instrument installation, maintenance, and data processing.  I've got plenty of experience with installation and maintenance, and USC hosts the Southern California Earthquake Center that has world-class expertise with all phases of seismic monitoring...so let's all consider this a perfect match.

Some important background: There has never been a seismometer (that I am aware of) deployed in this country.  Before gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002, there were no efforts to monitor this portion of Timor.  Without local seismometers, no local earthquakes can be detected. 
There are also no personnel trained in geophysics here, let alone seismology.  All have backgrounds in the glorious discipline of geology, which has only peripheral relevance to seismology.  I am taking every possible opportunity to pass along what I know about seismic phenomena, and expect to do much more.  Before I leave, I will give a presentation of the basics of seismology.  And, speaking from experience, all of the information will need to be restated multiple times before it sets in...good thing we will be visiting many times over the next few years!

So, let the work and training begin.  We need to find locations to put equipment.  We REALLY need to get our equipment out of customs...

Coconuts, nature's thirst quencher

Diplomacy and the 'sales pitch'

For any of this to work out, we need permission and endorsement to proceed from the highest level possible.  Hélio, Eugenio and I were granted a time window to meet with the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mr. Alfredo Pires.  I scrambled to put together a slideshow to introduce our project, identify what we will do when in Timor Leste, and (most importantly for IPG) display the potential for long-term development of knowledge.  I spent most of my time learning about the societal impacts that seismic monitoring can provide, pulling in images of earthquake devastation, methods of sound engineering practices, early earthquake warning systems, and so on. 

While this was certainly appreciated by the Minister, his inner geologist came out to play.  I prepared two broad-scale picture type slides, both taken from our Banda Arc collaborator's paper, Mr. Hendro Nugroho:

From Nugroho et al., 2007, published in Tectonophysics. Regional tectonic setting.

GPS velocity field, global reference frame.

These two figures carried a 30 minute conversation with a high-ranking politician who certainly had many other important tasks to pursue.  A full recap of that convo is suitable elsewhere, but I will say that it drew great interest.  These figures nicely detail the geologic complexity of the area, revealing the dynamic range of earthquake, volcanic, and tectonic activity.  I had the sense that Mr. Pires had some relief from his stressful and busy life as a politician by discussing the fascinating geologic configuration of the country he is representing.

Getting the ball rolling...

I had no idea what to expect when coming to Dili to initiate this portion of the Banda Arc project.  We, the Earth Sciences department at the University of Southern California, had already shipped a substantial amount of earthquake monitoring equipment based on a series of emails with miscellaneous semi-formal agreements.  Let me take a step back...

The Banda Arc project is truly an intriguing scientific concoction dreamed up by a suite of researchers.  For brevity's sake, I mention the USC component that secured funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation to make this all happen: Professor Meghan Miller (Tectonophysics/Seismology), Professor A. Joshua West (Geochemistry/geomorphology), Professor Thorsten Becker (Geodynamics).  The project will incorporate the analysis of Earth processes across a wide range of spatial scales - the uplift and erosion of the surface will be linked to the internal strength of the crust, which in turn will be linked to the large-scale flow of the underlying mantle.  Admittedly, these linkages are ambitious goals, but the Banda Arc region provides a suitable tectonic configuration to do so:

Image: The triangular shaped region of islands surrounding the Savu Sea is our target.  On the left, the plate below Indian Ocean descends below Indonesia, producing a classic "Subduction Zone." on the right, Australia is smashing into Indonesia and Timor Leste.  We are setting out to observe these cases, and intriguingly, the transition between the two.


OK, back to Dili.  I arrive at the Institute of Petroleum and Geology, a newly formed (est. 2012) division of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.  They are responsible for all scientific and economic knowledge of Earth Science within the country.  Headed by president Helio Guterres, IPG has various departments that as working vigorously to grow their understanding of Timor Leste's physical state.  Our project is hosted by the Division of Geohazard under the direction of Eugenio Soares.  These are the two IPG representatives I have been in contact with to organize this project from abroad.  They are especially encouraged to begin the project, and welcome the beginning of our joint efforts.  They are also surprised that I am in Dili and ready to begin installation of the seismic equipment we have sent.  It becomes clear that the focus of my visit is to complete the agreement between our institutions, clear the importation of equipment through international customs, and deliver a clear plan for our upcoming work. 



The beginning of a fruitful relationship.

Arrival in Dili, Timor Leste

February 24th was the day for a long journey to travel here.  11 hours from Los Angeles to Tokyo, 7 hours from there to Bali.  I was already aware of being in an entirely different world.  Having never been in the tropics, only having experienced hints of true humidity, the uniqueness of this experience was already apparent.
Why did I needed a Visa on Arrival in Indonesia? Timor Leste (a.k.a. East Timor) is it's own country, the newest in the world (est. 2002), after all.  Maybe it is just my limited traveling experience, maybe I've already succumbed to heat exhaustion, maybe I should just deal with it!
Only a few hours to fly from Bali, Indonesia to Dili, Timor Leste.  The airport is small.  I've been in bigger private airstrips in the U.S.  The sun was out, it was hot.  I get my Visa on Arrival, I locate the hotel shuttle driver in a sea of local taxi drivers. 
Dili is the capital of the country.  All business, politics, tourism, etc. starts here.  It sits on a young sedimentary plain that abuts a steep topographic rise into the adjacent hills.  This wall of metamorphic rocks already has my inner geologist's interest held.  BUT, for now, I am first a scientific diplomat, logistic coordinator, and motivator of collaboration. 

photo:  A view from the mountainside above Dili.  Atauro Island is in the distance across the 3000+ meter deep Wetar Straight.