Acquistion of ICP Spectrographic Facilities for Geologic and Environmental Studies

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9512427 Coveney This grant, as part of the Academic Research Infrastructure(ARI) program, provides $139,000 as partial support of the costs acquiring an inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP- MS) and peripheral supplies for the Department of Geosciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). This instrument will support research and teaching within several academic departments at and will permit the acquisition of high-quality spectrographic data for more than 60 chemical elements of interest, including all major components of silicate rocks and soils and minor and trace constituents of particular concern to the geological and environmental sciences as well as to the material and chemical sciences. The ICP-MS will be the only spectrographic equipment available on the UMKC campus and will be used in numerous investigations including: (1) the distributions of metals in black shales in the Midwest, (2) groundwater contamination from naturally metal-rich shales in the Midwest, (3) the geology of hazardous waste sites, (4) deterioration of building stones by environmental agents, (5) paleoclimates related to Quaternary basins and pluvial lakes in the Pacific Northwest, (6) the genesis of iron sulfide minerals, (7) the origins of uniquely bedded Ni-Mo deposits in Cambrian shales from China, (8) lead-zinc mineralization in country rocks of the Midwest, (9) impurities held by large organic molecules being imaged by atomic force microscopy and (10) compositions of bones and teeth. Eight faculty, drawn from five academic departments, have needs for this equipment for research and teaching. The establishment of this ICP-MS laboratory at UMKC will facilitate research by faculty while, at the same time, permitting UMKC students to become proficient in a modern spectrometric technique. The lab will be an essential resource for the training of M.S. students enrolled in the Urban Environmental Geology program at UMKC, as well as for students from the UMKC's innovative interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, for graduate students from the other sciences at UMKC, and for undergraduates from the physical and environmental sciences. ***