Acquisition of a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer for Enhancement of Research and Teaching of Microspectroscopy of Crystals, Glasses, and Organic Compounds

该合同将为购买Nicolet 8700傅立叶变换红外光谱仪（FTIR）提供资金，该光谱仪将配备Continuum显微镜，安装在马萨诸塞大学地球科学系。对于位于马萨诸塞州西部先锋谷的五所学院（阿默斯特学院、汉普郡学院、霍利奥克山学院、史密斯学院和马萨诸塞大学）的教职员工和学生来说，这台新仪器将是一种方便而有价值的工具。这些仪器将被岩石学家、矿物学家、构造地质学家和行星地质学家用来分析矿物和岩石中的挥发物，如水、二氧化碳和硫化合物，并被生物地球化学家、第四纪地质学家和水文学家用来分析沉积物和水中的有机化合物。这台机器根据原子间键的振动频率来识别化合物。FTIR在地球科学项目中是一种最有价值的仪器，因为它可以为可以转化为实验的问题提供基本的即时答案。因此，使用这一仪器将鼓励各个教育层次的学生认识到好的地质问题，并设计能回答这些问题的实验。这台机器适合学生互动，因为仪器的功能很容易理解，因为学习使用机器的时间很少，足以获得有用的数据。在测试地质假设的实验设计过程中，使用该仪器将促进批判性和独立思考。FTIR将作为矿物学和光谱学本科课程的基本工具，作为本科生独立学习和毕业论文项目的工具，以及作为研究生研究的基础。霍利奥克山学院和该地区其他本科院校（阿默斯特学院、史密斯学院和汉普郡学院）的学生将特别受益于霍利奥克山大学的研究环境。2006年8月，五所学院进行了一次冰岛实地考察，由项目负责人之一希曼（Seaman）和五所学院的全体教员以及一名高中教师带领。这次考察激发了学生和教员对火山物质和沉积物中挥发物的鉴定和浓度测量的兴趣。FTIR广泛应用于各种地质材料的实验，将促进五所学院地质社区成员之间在所有教育水平上的研究互动。

EAR-0549637SeamanThis award will provide funds to purchase a Nicolet 8700 Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) with a Continuum microscope that will be housed in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts. The new instrument will be an accessible and valuable tool for faculty and students throughout the Five Colleges (Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts) in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. The instruments will be used by petrologists, mineralogists, structural geologist, and planetary geologists to analyze volatiles such as water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur compounds in minerals and rocks, and by biogeochemists, Quaternary geologists, and hydrologists to analyze organic compounds in sediments and in water. The machine identifies compounds on the basis of the frequency of vibration of bonds between atoms. The FTIR is an instrument of utmost value in an Earth sciences program because it provides essentially instant answers to questions that can be translated into an experiment. Thus, access to this instrument will encourage students at all educational levels to recognize good geologic questions, and to design experiments that will answer those questions. This machine is appropriate for student interaction because the function of the instrument is easily understandable, and because it takes little time to learn to use the machine well enough to obtain useful data. Use of this instrument will promote critical and independent thinking in the process of design of experiments that will test geologic hypotheses. The FTIR will be used as a fundamental tool in mineralogy and spectroscopy classes at the undergraduate level, as a tool for undergraduate independent study and senior thesis projects, and as the basis for graduate student research. Students at Mount Holyoke College and the other undergraduate institutions in the area (Amherst, Smith, and Hampshire Colleges) will especially benefit from exposure to the research environment at the University. A recent Five College field trip to Iceland (August, 2006), led by one of the PI's (Seaman) along with faculty from all of the Five Colleges, and one high school teacher, sparked interest among both students and faculty in projects involving identification of volatiles and measurement of their concentrations in volcanic materials and sediments. The FTIR, with its wide application to experiments on a variety of geologic materials, will promote research interaction at all educational levels between members of the Five College geologic community.