Acquisition of a Bench-top GC-MS System for Biogeochemical Research

这项资助支持印第安纳州大学为生物标志物研究购置一台新的台式气相色谱-质谱仪（GC-MS）。 GC-MS将致力于分析地质样品中的分子成分，这可以为沉积有机物质的不同来源和不同命运提供宝贵的线索。它将取代老化，高维护的GC-MS仪器，这是在其使用寿命结束。 研究生和本科生以及访问科学家将接受操作培训，学习如何在复杂混合物中识别有机化合物，并将在广泛的项目中使用他们的分析结果。使用这种GC-MS仪器获得的数据，加上同位素组成的信息，将加强研究重点是了解地球物质的分子和同位素组成的众多控制。这些地球化学研究的成果将有助于了解全球气候和环境变化的历史、地球化学碳循环、微生物活动和深层生物圈以及进化过程。

This grant support acquisition of a new bench-top gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) for biomarker research at Indiana University. The GC-MS will be dedicated to analyses of molecular constituents in geological samples that can provide invaluable clues to the diverse origins and varied fates of sedimentary organic matter. It will replace aged, high-maintenance GC-MS instrumentation that is at the end of its useful lifespan. Graduate and undergraduate students, and also visiting scientists, will be trained in its operation, learning how to identify organic compounds amid complex mixtures, and will use the results from their analyses in a broad spectrum of projects. Data obtained using this GC-MS instrument, coupled with information on isotopic compositions, will enhance research focused on understanding the numerous controls on molecular and isotopic compositions of earth materials. The results from such biogeochemical research will benefit understanding of the history of global climate and environmental change, the biogeochemical carbon cycle, microbial activity and the deep biosphere, and evolutionary processes.