Upgrading of Binghamton University Geoscience Microscopy/Fluid Inclusion Laboratory

升级宾厄姆顿大学地球科学显微镜/流体包裹体实验室涉及到获得新设备，这些设备将促进正在进行的由美国国家科学基金会资助的古代海水化学和地球生物学研究项目。目前的研究涉及在三个盆地(智利死亡谷、智利萨拉德阿塔卡马和玻利维亚萨拉德乌尤尼)的第四纪盐芯中寻找被困在卤水包裹体中长达104-106年的微生物和古代DNA。其目标是获得有关盐类矿物流体包裹体中微生物的分布、存活和多样性的数据，这些矿物已经在地下存在了数十万年。这些项目需要在晶体中的流体包裹体中识别微米级的生物体。用这笔赠款购买的光学显微镜系统将有助于观察微生物。通过购买用于运动控制的精密钻头和支架，将促进流体包裹体的钻探和提取；层流流罩将保护盐水包裹体免受污染。显微镜/流体包裹体实验室的升级将使宾厄姆顿大学地质科学系的学生和教职员工受益。本科生和研究生将接受设备使用方面的指导和培训，几门课程将使用实验室进行教学。将组织暑期讲习班，为当地初中和高中教师提供地球生物学方面的培训和课程开发；显微镜/流体包裹体实验室将用于这些讲习班。

EAR-0447165LowensteinUpgrading the Binghamton University Geoscience microscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory involves obtaining new equipment that will facilitate ongoing NSF-funded research projects on the chemistry of ancient seawater and geobiology. Current research involves searching for microorganisms and ancient DNA trapped in brine inclusions for periods of 104-106 years in Quaternary salt cores from three basins (Death Valley, Salar de Atacama, Chile, and Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia). The goal is to obtain data on the distribution, survival, and diversity of microorganisms in fluid inclusions in saline minerals that have been in the subsurface for periods of several hundred thousand years. These projects require identification of micron-size organisms in fluid inclusions in crystals. The optical microscope system purchased with this grant will facilitate observation of microbes. Fluid inclusion drilling and extraction will be facilitated with the purchase of a precision drill and mount for motion control; a laminar flow hood would protect brine inclusions from contamination. An upgrade of the miscroscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory will benefit the students and faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences at Binghamton University. Undergraduate and graduate students will receive instruction and training in the use of equipment, and several courses will use the laboratory for instruction. Summer workshops will be organized to provide training and curriculum development for local middle school and high school teachers in geobiology; the microscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory will be used for these workshops.