Est#alishment of an Ocean Sciences Accelerator Facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

伍兹霍尔海洋研究所将建立一个以服务为导向的设施，代表海洋科学界分析放射性碳样本。加速器质谱（AMS）设备将使用新开发的技术、现代仪器和自动样品制备程序。该设施需要分析放射性碳和其他示踪剂样本，这些样本是在即将到来的全球地球科学重大项目和个人研究资助的实地项目中收集的。化学示踪剂是描述海洋过程的有力工具。对几种自然和人为的海水化学成分，如碳-14的分析，提供了关于深海长期混合和循环、上升流和海气二氧化碳交换过程的信息。这些过程对于理解影响气候变率的力量以及碳循环和生物生产力的化学相互作用具有重要意义。对这类过程的描述是今后十年计划进行的主要海洋学调查的核心。AMS技术将所需的样本量减少了1000倍，为250毫升海水，以达到定义所调查的地球物理过程所需的精度水平。鉴于世界海洋环流实验（WOCE）、全球海洋通量研究（GOFS）和其他地球科学项目需要大量样本，AMS设施将每天24小时运行，以满足科学需求。目前的计划要求每年分析多达4,000个C-14样品，精度为+/- 0.3%至0.4%。该研究所将提供工程和建筑图纸方面的费用分摊，并将建造所需的实验室，以容纳医疗辅助队设施。

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will establish a service-oriented facility to analyze radiocarbon samples on behalf of the ocean sciences community. The Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Facility will use newly developed techno- logy, modern instrumentation and automated sample preparation procedures. The Facility is required to analyze radiocarbon and other tracer samples collected during upcoming field programs of major Global Geosciences projects and individual research grants. Chemical tracers are powerful tools for describing oceano- graphic processes. The analysis of several natural and anthropogenic chemical constituents of seawater, such as Carbon-14, provides information on long-term mixing and circulation in the deep ocean, on upwelling, and on air-sea carbon dioxide exchange processes. These processes have major implications for understanding the forces that affect climate variability and the chemical interaction of the carbon cycle and biological productivity. The description of processes such as these is central to major oceanographic investigations planned for the next decade. AMS technology reduces required sample size by a factor of 1,000, to 250 milliliters of seawater, for achieving the requisite level of precision to define the geophysical processes under investigation. Given the large number of samples needed for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the Global Ocean Flux Study (GOFS), and other geo- sciences programs, the AMS Facility will be operated on a 24- hour a day basis to meet scientific requirements. Present plans call for the analysis of up to 4,000 C-14 samples annually with precision of +/- 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent. The Institution will provide cost-sharing in terms of engineering and architectural drawings and will construct the required laboratory addition to house the AMS Facility.