Facility Support: Multi-User Facility Support for U-Th-Pb Geochronology at the Arizona LaserChron Center

在实验方法和仪器方面的创新正在彻底改变地球科学研究中地质年代学信息的获取和应用。一些最令人兴奋的进展是由激光烧蚀多收集电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(LA-MC-ICPMS)推动的，它允许以微米级的空间分辨率快速确定U-Th-Pb年龄。这项技术正在从根本上改变地质年代学信息的利用方式，影响范围涵盖构造地质学、构造学、地层学、古生物学、岩石学、经济地质学和地球化学。亚利桑那州激光计时中心(ALC)是一个多用户设施，它利用LA-MC-ICPMS向NSF支持的地球科学界提供U-Th-Pb年代学信息和培训。ALC的主要目标是(1)为NSF支持的研究人员生成高质量/低成本的U-Th-Pb年代学信息，(2)利用设施运营的每个方面作为机会，培训学生和教师研究人员地质年代学理论和方法，以及(3)推动利用LA-MC-ICPMS优势的新技术和应用的开发。这笔资金将为ALC的工作人员提供支持，以帮助NSF支持的研究人员获取地质年代学信息，并推动新分析技术的开发，用于仪器的维护和现代化，并使学生能够在实验室进行研究。这项支持将使ALC每年为约50名研究人员提供地质年代学信息，以支持约30个不同的NSF-EAR奖项。这项合作研究将推动以下方面的重要新发展：大陆的生长、造山过程、沉积物在空间和时间上的生成和扩散、矿物和碳氢化合物资源的形成、演化变化史、早期人类的年代学以及气候和构造之间的遗传联系。

0732436GehrelsInnovations in experimental methods and instrumentation are revolutionizing the acquisition and application of geochronologic information in Earth Science research. Some of the most exciting advances are being driven by Laser-Ablation Multicollector ICP Mass Spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS), which allows for rapid determination of U-Th-Pb ages with micron-scale spatial resolution. This technique is fundamentally changing the way that geochronologic information is utilized, with impacts that cover the span of structural geology, tectonics, stratigraphy, paleontology, petrology, economic geology, and geochemistry. The Arizona LaserChron Center (ALC) is a multi-user facility that utilizes LA-MC-ICPMS to provide the NSF-supported Earth Science community with U-Th-Pb geochronologic information and training. Primary goals of the ALC are to (1) generate high quality/low cost U-Th-Pb geochronologic information for NSF-supported researchers, (2) use every aspect of facility operation as an opportunity to train student and faculty researchers in geochronologic theory and methodology, and (3) drive the development of new techniques and applications that take advantage of the strengths of LA-MC-ICPMS. The funding will provide support for ALC staff members to assist NSF-supported researchers in acquiring geochronologic information and to drive the development of new analytical techniques, for maintenance and modernization of instrumentation, and for students to be able to conduct research in the laboratory. This support will enable the ALC to provide geochronologic information for ~50 researchers per year in support of ~30 different NSF-EAR awards. This collaborative research will drive important new developments in studies of the growth of continents, processes of mountain building, generation and dispersal of sediment through space and time, formation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, history of evolutionary changes, chronology of early hominids, and genetic linkages between climate and tectonics.