Acquisition of Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry Instrumentation for High Latitude and Marine Applications at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

该合同将支持马里兰大学S环境科学中心采购稳定的同位素质谱仪和相关的外围仪器，以促进广泛的极地和海洋研究。这种稳定的同位素质谱仪将有利于切萨皮克湾和其他目标生态系统(如北极)正在进行的、拟议的和未来的项目，那里的机构研究能力现在已经达到关键门槛。拟议的仪器配置将具有若干独特的能力，包括基于同位素的确定地下水中硝酸盐来源的同时分析具有生物活性的痕量金属(如铬和硒)的形态；通过测量特定化合物的稳定同位素比率以及对有机组织的整体分析绘制食物网碳和氮的加工图；利用稳定同位素和痕量金属综合分布场记录鱼类在不同水团中的迁徙模式。现有的支持本科生研究的多学科项目，包括马里兰圣玛丽学院的合作研究、由马里兰州立海洋基金管理的NSF支持的REU项目以及切萨皮克生物实验室访客中心的教师培训活动将得到扩大，以提供更多的研究和教育机会，以利用这一新仪器。改进的实验室能力还将为马里兰大学系统四个校区的研究生提供服务，这些学生就读于海洋河口环境科学研究生项目。

This award will support acquisition of a stable isotope mass spectrometer and associated peripheral instrumentation to facilitate a wide range of polar and marine research at the University of Maryland?s Center for Environmental Science. This stable isotope mass spectrometer will benefit ongoing, proposed and future projects in the Chesapeake Bay and other target ecosystems such as the Arctic, where institutional research capacity has now reached critical thresholds. A number of unique capabilities will become available with the proposed instrument configuration, including isotope-based determinations of nitrate sources in groundwater with concurrent analyses of the speciation of biologically active trace metals (e.g., chromium and selenium); mapping food web carbon and nitrogen processing through measurements of compound-specific stable isotope ratios as well as bulk analyses of organic tissues; and documenting the migratory patterns of fish through different water masses using combined stable isotope and trace metal distribution fields. Existing multidisciplinary programs supporting undergraduate research, including cooperative research at St. Mary's College of Maryland, an active NSF- supported REU program that is managed by Maryland State Sea Grant, and teacher training activities at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitor Center will be enlarged to provide enhanced research and educational opportunities to take advantage of this new instrumentation. The improved laboratory capabilities will also serve graduate students at four campuses of the University of Maryland System enrolled in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences graduate program.