Acquisition of a noble gas mass spectrometer and development of a multi-user facility for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology at the University of Vermont

该奖项用于支持佛蒙特大学 40Ar/39Ar 地质年代学多用户设施的开发。 40Ar/39Ar 技术基于 40K 至 40Ar 的放射性衰变，是地球科学家可用的最通用的地质年代学方法之一。由于含钾矿物常见于火成岩和变质岩中，因此该技术可用于测定年龄从数千年到数十亿年的矿物。此外，根据矿物的生长是否高于或低于同位素系统的闭合温度以及冷却速率，存在确定相对离散事件的年代和阐明岩石热历史的潜力。因此，该技术存在广泛的应用，从高分辨率时间尺度校准到跟踪折返和造山侵蚀速率，再到上地壳的埋藏和成岩作用以及断层。该设施的主要研究重点概括为以下主题：1）通过渐进变形和叠印关系的记录，研究大规模构造过程、造山带的演化以及限制断层和剪切带滑动的时间和速率； 2) 对盆地演化和上地壳过程施加时间限制，研究断层、构造和沉积之间的联系以及地球深层过程的表面表现。该实验室正在支持佛蒙特大学早期职业教员的研究项目，并为附近大学和学院的研究人员以及政府和国家机构的研究人员提供 40Ar/39Ar 分析设施。许多利用该设施的机构，包括佛蒙特大学，都非常重视本科生研究；因此，本科生到研究生的教学和培训是实验室使命和文化的重要组成部分。该设施的开发为学生动手使用实验室进行独立研究项目并酌情作为系课程的一部分，为研究和教育的整合提供了重要的机会。该设施为国内和国际合作以及 PI 和她的同事吸引博士后学者提供了新的机会。该设施生成的数据通过在国际期刊上发表以及通过 EarthChem 托管的 GEOCHRON 系统广泛提供给科学界。

This award is supporting the development of a multi-user facility for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology at the University of Vermont. The 40Ar/39Ar technique, based on the radioactive decay of 40K to 40Ar, is one of the most versatile geochronologic methods available to Earth Scientists. Because potassium-bearing minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rocks, the technique can be used to date minerals ranging in age from thousands to billions of years. In addition, depending on whether a mineral grows above or below its closure temperature for the isotopic system and the rate of cooling, the potential exists to both date relatively discrete events and to elucidate thermal histories of rocks. Thus a wide variety of applications for the technique exist, spanning high resolution time scale calibrations to tracking rates of exhumation and orogenic erosion, to burial and diagenesis and faulting in the upper crust. The primary research foci for this facility is generalized by themes that include: 1) the investigation of large scale tectonic processes, the evolution of orogenic belts, and constraining timing and rates of slip on faults and shear zones through the record of progressive deformation and overprinting relationships; and 2) placing temporal constraints on basin evolution and upper crustal processes, investigating linkages between faulting, tectonics, and sedimentation, and surface expressions of deep Earth processes.The laboratory is supporting the research program of an Early Career faculty member at the University of Vermont as well as providing access to a 40Ar/39Ar analytical facility for researchers at nearby universities and colleges and for researchers at government and state agencies. Many of these institutions that utilize this facility, including the University of Vermont, have a strong emphasis on undergraduate research; therefore teaching and training at the undergraduate through graduate level is an important component of the laboratory mission and culture. Development of the facility is providing significant opportunities for the integration of research and education through hands on use of the laboratory by students for independent research projects and, as appropriate, as part of the department curriculum. The facility is presenting new opportunities for national and international collaborations and for PI and her colleagues to attract post-doctoral scholars. Data generated by the facility is being made broadly available to the scientific community through publication in international journals and through the GEOCHRON system hosted at EarthChem.