MRI Acquisition: An ICP-MS Facility at the University of Utah

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目的目标是创建一个电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）设备，能够研究气体和液体溶液、胶体、矿物、化石、凝胶和组织的微量元素含量和同位素比率。首先要解决的研究领域是：1)碳酸盐作为环境和古环境变化的记录；2)胶体输运与微量元素循环；3)考古和地质材料的年代测定；4)地质力引起的地球变形；5)碳酸盐、毛发、有机质物源研究；6)元素在组织和化石中的分布；7)岩浆、火成岩、变质岩和矿床的成因和演化；8)火山灰对比，用于地层层序研究。该设施将有：1)多收集器ICP-MS；2)碰撞池四极ICP-MS；3)激光烧蚀取样系统；4)引入液/气样品的周边设备；5)用于湿化学和样品处理的洁净实验室空间。化学元素通过地质、生物和人类学的过程在地球上移动。即使其中一些元素的浓度很小（十亿分之几），它们也可以作为有益或有害的成分在关键方面影响生态系统和生物。此外，这些微量元素在沉积物或岩石中的浓度变化可能与它们形成过程中发生的地质、环境和气候变化有关。就化石而言，元素变化也可以揭示饮食的变化，就组织而言，可以阐明生理机制。最后，那些具有放射性的微量元素可以用来确定地质年龄。当与激光相结合时，ICP-MS可以直接检测固体、凝胶或组织中的这些微量物质，而无需繁琐的化学程序。利用该设施进行的研究将有助于解决区域和国家的技术问题，特别是在环境可持续性、法医学、能源和矿产资源以及先进材料等领域。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The goal of this project is to create an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) facility with capabilities to study trace elemental content and isotopic ratios for gaseous and liquid solutions, colloids, minerals, fossils, gels and tissue. Research areas to be initially addressed are: 1) carbonates as records of environmental and paleoenvironmental change; 2) colloid transport and trace elements cycling in aquatic systems; 3) dating of archeological and geological material; 4) earth transformations caused by geological forces; 5) provenance studies of carbonates, hair and organic materials; 6) elemental distribution in tissues and fossils; 7) origin and evolution of magmas, igneous and metamorphic rocks and ore deposits; and 8) correlations of volcanic ashes for the study of stratigraphic sequences. The facility will have: 1) a multicollector ICP-MS; 2) a collision cell quadrupole ICP-MS; 3) a laser ablation sampling system; 4) peripheral equipment for introducing liquid/gas samples; and 5) clean lab space for wet chemistry and sample handling.Chemical elements move around the Earth via geological, biological and anthropological processes. Even when the concentration for some of these elements is tiny (a few parts per billion), they can impact ecosystems and organisms in crucial ways as beneficial or damaging components. In addition, the concentration changes of these trace elements through sediments or rocks can be related to the geological, environmental and climatic variations that occurred during their formation. In the case of fossils, elemental variation can also reveal diet changes and in the case of tissue, elucidate physiological mechanisms. Finally, those trace elements that are radioactive can be used to obtain geological ages. When coupled with a laser, ICP-MS can directly detect these minute amounts in solids, gels or tissue without laborious chemical procedures. The research achieved using the facility will contribute to solutions to regional and national technological problems, specifically in the fields of environmental sustainability, forensics, energy and mineral resources, and advanced materials.