Acquisition of a CO2-Laser Fluorination System and a Mass Spectrometer System for Multiple Stable Isotope Analyses

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EAR-0129793BaoThis award provides partial support (55%) for the acquisition of a CO2-laser fluorination system and an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) system for multiple stable isotope analyses (e.g., O, S & N) for geological and environmental samples. These facilities will be installed and operated in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the Louisiana State University (LSU). This acquisition will greatly improve LSU's existing research infrastructure and enhance current and planned research capabilities of the LSU geochemistry group. In addition, the facilities provide excellent science education and training platform for undergraduate students. The Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Huiming Bao, recently joined the Department as an Assistant Professor. The instruments will be the primary tool for Bao's research programs in multiple isotope geochemistries of oxygen (all three isotopes: 16O, 17O, & 18O), sulfur (all 4 isotopes: 32S, 33S, 34S, & 36S), and nitrogen (14N & 15N). The capabilities of these new instruments will be used in research and educational activities aimed at a better understanding of elemental cycles in the atmosphere and in surface environments. Immediate research plans include studies of long-term atmospheric deposition of sulfate and nitrate and their post-depositional mobility in Antarctic Dry Valley soil systems (in collaborating with Dr. Marchant at Boston University), oxygen and sulfur isotopic compositions of Archean sulfide and sulfate deposits in South Africa, and sulfate leached from recent and ancient volcanic ashes, all of which will benefit from the availability of a CO2-laser fluorination system and an IRMS that can offer efficient off-line/on-line gas extractions and high-precision multiple isotopic analyses with minimal sample size. ***