Acquisition of a single-collector, magnetic-sector ICP-MS for research in U-series and (U-Th)/He chronometry at the Berkeley Geochronology Center

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Funds will be used to acquire a single-collector, magnetic-sector, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC). The instrument will provide enhanced analytical capabilities and increased capacity for research and training programs in uranium-series and (U-Th)/He radio-isotopic dating. Many fundamental questions in the Earth sciences require precise and accurate radio-isotopic dating of natural events and processes. For example, uranium-series and (U-Th)/He dating are at the core of ongoing NSF-supported research at BGC in: (1) seismic histories and slip rates of active faults, (2) past climate transitions, (3) development of pre-contact Pacific cultures and ensuing environmental effects, (4) landscape evolution, and (5) chemical weathering processes. The new ICP-MS will supplement a thermal ionization mass spectrometer acquired by BGC in 1997 to provide higher sensitivity and greater throughput for uranium-series analyses and new capabilities for measuring small samples of 238U, 232Th, and 146Sm for BGC?s recently established Noble Gas Thermochronology Lab. Through interdisciplinary collaborations between BGC scientists and other researchers in the Earth sciences and related fields, the ICP-MS will help to establish the timing of geologic events and the rates of natural processes that have affected Earth?s surface, its natural resources, hazards, and life upon it. This research will help clarify topics of vital societal relevance and widespread public interest. The ICP-MS will be highly accessible to graduate students and post-docs, thereby playing an essential role in providing state-of-the-art training in innovative dating techniques to early-career scientists.