Institute for the Study of the Continents (INSTOC)

Brief history of INSTOC:

INSTOC focuses on fundamental scientific questions such as "how and when the continents were formed, how the continents have evolved, and why, indeed, there are continents." The perspective would be to "treat continents as entities with their entire history as their timescale" but also to address societal needs for increased knowledge of the earth by providing "a near complete inventory of earth resources available to mankind" while at the same time using these resources "without deterioration and with enhancement of environmental conditions."

Another key goal of the institute was to develop "national expertise in international, really global, geology" by analogy to the Cooperative Extension Service of the College of Agriculture at Cornell. The goal was a "Cornell based organization that is strong in research on continental geology in the United States, and that interacts with geological organizations in a variety of foreign countries. It would aid in the solution of certain geological problems of those countries, and concurrently bring to a central point the information so obtained so as to develop expertise on which to base further progress."

In the early 1980's the time was right for Cornell to embark on the study of continents. Following a reorientation of the Department of Geological Sciences in the 1970's towards geophysics, geotectonics and geochemsitry, there were several strong research projects in the area of "continentology": COCORP (Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling) was using the "seismic reflection profiling techniques of the petroleum industry to probe the basement rocks" of the North American continent and involved dozens of scientists and graduate students; the Cornell Program for the Study of Continents (COPSTOC) was an industry supported forerunner to INSTOC; The Cornell Andes Project had just begun and a research program to study island arcs was underway. It was a time for expansion as the department left its cramped, but beloved quarters in Kimball Hall for a new building called Snee Hall in 1984.

INSTOC was designed to be separate from the Department of Geological Sciences with some scientists solely affiliated with Cornell through INSTOC but with others affiliated with both. The institute would make Cornell a leading institution in the subject, attract exceptional students and scientists, and "provide an administrative structure capable of managing large projects... that cannot be handled efficiently in the typical Dean/Chairman/Professor/Graduate Student structure, although it would not be restricted to such large projects." Funding for the institute would come from many sources including U.S. and foreign governments, international agencies, the petroleum and mining industries, and foundations and philanthropic organizations. "Given the diversity of funding sources, the institute would of course have to be opportunistic, growing and carrying out projects as support arose, deferring other goals until support could be raised."

Over the last 30 years, that founding vision of INSTOC to study the continents for scientific and societal benefit with a strong international emphasis has been realized with tremendous success. The COCORP project made fundamental discoveries in North America (http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/cocorp/COCORP.html and was imitated by analogous programs in over 20 countries (including Great Britain (BIRPS), France (ECORS), Germany (DEKORP) and Canada (LITHOPROBE)), and its legacy is carried on at Cornell with the International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalayas (INDEPTH ) and other projects. The Cornell Andes project is entering its fourth decade with numerous new and ongoing projects. The results from the Middle East and North Africa project are all available online and are widely used. INSTOC was an early participant in NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) to study climate change and multi disciplinary studies of the interaction of climate and tectonics in the Andes and Himalayas. The Global Basins Research Network created a database and to bring together the varied expertise necessary to investigate, in a comprehensive manner, the complex, interrelated processes, especially fluid flow, that occur in sedimentary basins.

Starting in 2005, INSTOC began hosting 1 day workshops each fall on a topical theme inviting outside experts. These workshops have grown in popularity, annually attracting 70 or more attendees from institutions throughout the region and have spurred collaborative research and teaching projects. In 2010, the workshops were named the Kaufman INSTOC Symposium to honor Cornell alum and faculty member Sid Kaufman who played a pioneering role in the success of INSTOC along with the other INSTOC members and directors:

INSTOC Directors

Jack Oliver (1982 to 1992)

Bryan Isacks (1992 to 2004)

Larry Brown (2004 to 2010)

Larry Cathles (2010 to 2016)

Matt Pritchard (2016 to present)

Muawia Barazangi, Associate Director (1988-2009)