Acquisition of a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer for Investigations in High-precision Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry

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EAR-0521221SchmitzThis grant will be used to install a state-of-the-art thermal ionization mass spectrometer in the new isotope geochemistry laboratory in the Department of Geosciences at Boise State University, Idaho. This instrument will be used for the high-precision analysis of isotope ratios in geological and environmental samples, with a particularly emphasis on determining the precise ages of volcanic ashes in the geologic record, which in turn are used to calibrate the rates of tectonic, climatic and biological change throughout Earth history. Isotope ratio analysis will also be applied to such diverse applications as the fingerprinting of volcanic source regions, the tracing of hydrologic pathways, the study of ancient human habitation sites and trade routes, and dating of soil carbonates recording the last half million years of climate change. Such science drivers underlie the key role the new facility will play in the development of a new Ph.D. in Geosciences at Boise State University. This new facility will also play major roles in the regional, national and international spheres of geoscience. As the only such laboratory in the Interior Northwest, the facility will be an important regional center of training for the next generation of geoscientists, and a natural partner to scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory. On the national stage, the laboratory will be a node in the EARTHTIME Network, a national initiative in high-precision geochronological calibration of Earth History, and a contributor to the GeoSystems initiative on Deep Time Paleoclimate, which seeks to understand future climate change by understanding the record of the Earth climate system over the past 500 million years.