Acquisition of Mass Spectrometers for the Cornell Laboratory for Natural Abundance Isotope Analysis

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The development of stable isotope mass spectrometry has revolutionized the ability to pose and answer questions of how interactions between biological and geological processes define the Earth's environment. At this interface between biology and geology lies the rapidly evolving discipline of biogeochemistry. Stable isotope mass spectrometry allows biogeochemists to ask questions - at scales ranging from microbial to global processes - that are critical to understanding how the Earth's ecosystems function, and how the biosphere is linked to human activities. A particular value of analyzing the natural abundance of stable isotopes is that they integrate information in space and time, and they allow an analysis of the net result of complex interaction of processes. Also, these approaches free researchers from the "Heizenberg uncertainty" principle as it applies to biogeochemistry; we sample the end result of processes without affecting them, whereas most other approaches to studying the biogeochemistry of ecosystems result in alterations in functioning due to sampling. A brief look at leading scientific journals shows that stable isotope techniques increasingly contribute to our most important advances within biogeochemistry. In fact, studies employing stable isotope data are now a norm, rather than an exception, in prestigious journals such as Nature or Science. Despite this growing importance, there are a relatively limited number of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities available for biogeochemical research within the U.S. and internationally. Formal training programs for the next generation of biogeochemists are even more limited. In this proposal we seek funds to establish a mass spectrometry facility at Cornell University, "The Cornell Laboratory for Natural-Abundance Isotope Analysis." This facility will provide a state-of-the-art laboratory for isotope analysis and methods development, and will serve as a center for interaction betwe en different faculty and students at Cornell that currently work at the conceptual interface between geology and biology. With funds from other sources, we plan to develop a formal training program in isotope techniques for students and visiting scientists. This program will provide on-site expertise and training fellowships for graduate and post-graduate researchers as well as opportunities for visitors to obtain the skills to run instrumentation and develop isotope techniques for their research. The program will also provide a forum for exchanging ideas, fostering interdisciplinary research, and enhancing training in isotope instrumentation. We believe that this balance between instrumentation, research and training will make this facility uniquely important for biogeochemical research, nationally as well as internationally. The facility will feature three major instruments and appropriate laboratory facilities for preparation and analysis of samples by a wide range of isotope applications. Two Finnigan MAT stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) will provide isotopic ratio analysis of C, N, O, S and H, with capabilities to analyze liquid, particulate, and gaseous samples, and will have the appropriate interfaces for compound-specific mass spectrometry. One IRMS (delta S, Finnigan Mat) will be used to process and analyze the very large number of samples ( l 0,000/year) generated by the 14 core faculty and their graduate and post-graduate associates, and off-campus scientists who are currently using isotope techniques in their research. The second IRMS (model 252, Finnigan Mat) will be used for high precision (+ 0.005 parts per thousand) analyses (compound specific, as well as high precision gas ratio determination), for training, and for methods development. One Hewlett Packard inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) will provide rapid and efficient analyses of concentrations of up to 40 or more elements , allowing trace-element analyses at part-per-trillion levels. Such information can "fingerprint" the movement and mixing of different elements from different sources through complex flow paths within ecosystems, as well as provide detailed information on chemical environments and transformations. This ability to coincidentally measure isotope ratios together with concentrations of elements provides a powerful capability to follow the biogeochemical movements and cycling of elements and water within and between the Earth's natural ecosystems. This facility will enhance research for a spectrum of Cornell faculty and lab groups that use natural abundance stable isotope approaches to study the interface between biology and geology. Currently, these groups have to send their samples to outside labs, with relatively long turn-around times and with little opportunity for methods development or student training.