Construction of a high-vacuum, laser-fluorination extractionline for isotopic analysis of silicate and oxide minerals

该合同提供了组装激光氟化萃取生产线所需资金的50%，用于分析小样本中的氧同位素。提取系统将安装在加州理工学院地质和行星科学部。加州理工学院承诺提供获得激光光源所需的剩余50%。加州理工学院的地球化学家将使用该设备分析陆地火成岩和变质岩、矿床和陨石中的少量矿物样品的氧同位素组成。这项技术包括在装有样品和氟化剂的反应室中对硅酸盐进行激光加热。该反应产生高灵敏度和良好空间分辨率的氧用于同位素分析，并允许解决诸如脉状矿化的多重计时、矿物颗粒的同位素分带以及结晶岩浆体及其周围的热液效应解释等地质问题。

This award provides 50% of the funds needed to assemble a laser fluorination extraction line for the analysis of oxygen isotopes in small samples. The extraction system will be installed in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. Caltech is committed to providing the remaining 50% necessary to acquire the laser source. The equipment will be used by Caltech geochemists to analyze the oxygen isotope composition of small mineral samples from terrestrial igneous and metamorphic rocks, ore deposits, and meteorites. The technique involves laser heating of silicates in a reaction chamber that contains the sample and a fluorinating agent. The reaction produces oxygen for isotopic analysis with high sensitivity and excellent spatial resolution and allows the solution of geological problems such as the multiple timing of vein mineralization, isotopic zoning of mineral grains, and the explanation of hydrothermal effects in and around crystallizing magma bodies.