Development of a High-Resolution Continuous-Flow Analysis System for Measurements of Soluble Chemical Species in Ice Cores

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0116674BalesThis award supports a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program project for one year of funding to develop a state-of-the-art continuous flow analysis (CFA) system that will be used for measuring concentrations of eight soluble chemical species (calcium, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, formaldehyde, nitrate, sodium, chloride and sulfate) plus electrical conductivity in polar ice cores. The system will be designed for use in either the laboratory or the field and will consist of a melter (to hold, feed, melt and monitor the core melting progress) and a liquid-flow system to distribute melted samples and mix with reagents. In addition, the system will have a detector to measure the various analytical streams and a data acquisition and processing system for manipulating the large amounts of data that will be produced. While the chemical principles used in the detectors are well established, the design of the overall system and the detailed instrumentation will be entirely new. This new instrument will enable U.S. ice core scientists to remain at the forefront of technology and will increase the quality and rate at which new ice core records can be produced. The access to new ice core records which will be produced by this instrument should result in a better understanding of climate and atmospheric chemistry.