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

这笔赠款支持印第安纳大学购买一台新的台式气相色谱-质谱仪(GC-MS)用于生物标记物研究。GC-MS将致力于地质样品中分子成分的分析，这可以为沉积有机质的不同来源和不同命运提供宝贵的线索。它将取代使用寿命即将结束的陈旧、高维护的GC-MS仪器。研究生和本科生以及来访的科学家将接受操作培训，学习如何在复杂的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，再加上关于同位素组成的信息，将加强侧重于了解地球材料分子和同位素组成的众多控制因素的研究。这些生物地球化学研究的结果将有助于理解全球气候和环境变化的历史、生物地球化学碳循环、微生物活动和深层生物圈以及演化过程。

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.