Acquisition of a Laser Ablation-MC-ICPMS for Development of Light Element Isotopes for Applications in the Geological Sciences

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EAR-0132629YoungIn this study, researchers at UCLA will develop further the new method of laser ablation sampling of rock materials for analysis by multiple collector inductively coupled plasma-source mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS). The new technology will permit researchers to use the isotopes of important and abundant rock-forming elements like magnesium, silicon, and iron as a means to discover the physical and chemical processes that affected rocks from a spectrum of environments. These environments include the ocean floor, the insides of asteroids, and the deep sources of volcanoes. Results will be used to elucidate details about a variety of phenomena related to the formation and subsequent evolution of the Earth. Questions that will be addressed using the new technique include: how flowing water heated from undersea volcanoes affects the chemistry of Earth's crust; how rocks formed from gas and dust in the early solar system and how this process gave rise to rocky planets and satellites with large amounts of water, including Earth; the timescales of events leading to active volcanism on Earth; and the ways in which isotopes can be used to distinguish biological from non-biological chemical processes in rocks and in the atmosphere.