Development of a Radiogenic Helium Dating Facility for Experimental Development of and Applications in (U-Th)/He Thermochronology

9909996回访这笔赠款为在华盛顿州立大学建立(U-Th)/He约会设施的费用提供了部分支持。这位名叫Peter Reiners的少年是最近加入地质系的人，他刚刚在加州理工大学完成了氦热计时学的博士后课程。该设备的主要功能将是：1)测量矿物中放射性成因氦的含量，用于构造和地貌过程的应用热年代学研究；2)开发和建立(U-Th)/He测年的新技术和方法，以扩展该方法，以适应更广泛的相态、闭合温度和地质应用。该实验室将包括矿物制备设备、扩散实验设备、氦提取、提纯、四极质谱真空线和用于在电感耦合等离子体质谱仪上测量U和Th含量的实验室设备。该实验室将为太平洋西北部的研究人员提供热年代学能力，包括华盛顿州立大学、华盛顿中央大学、华盛顿大学、爱达荷大学和附近的一个商业裂变径迹测年实验室(Donelick Analytical)。除了为应用研究提供热年代学限制外，该实验室还将专注于在各种矿物和系统中进行(U-Th)/He测年的实验开发，包括经济矿石系统。

9909996ReinersThis grant provides partial support for the costs of establishing a (U-Th)/He dating facility at Washington State University. The PI, Peter Reiners, is a recent addition to the Department of Geology, having just completed a postdoctoral program in helium thermochronometry at Caltech. The primary functions of this facility will be to: 1) measure contents of radiogenic helium in minerals for applied thermochronologic studies of tectonic and geomorphologic processes, and 2) develop and establish new techniques and approaches of (U-Th)/He dating in order to expand the method to suit a wider variety of phases, closure temperatures, and geologic applications. The lab will consist of mineral preparation equipment, apparatus for diffusion experiments, a He extraction, purification, quadrupole mass-spectrometry vacuum line, and lab facilities for measurement of U and Th contents on the department's ICP-MS. The lab will provide thermochronologic capabilities to researchers throughout the Pacific northwest, including WSU, Central Washington University, the University of Washington, the University of Idaho, and a nearby commercial fission-track dating lab (Donelick Analytical). In addition to providing thermochronologic constraints to applied studies, this lab will also be focused on the experimental development of (U-Th)/He dating in a variety of minerals and systems, including economic ore systems.***