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

该合同将支持佛蒙特大学用于40Ar/39Ar地质年代学的多用户设施的开发。40Ar/39Ar技术基于40K到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。因为含钾矿物在火成岩和变质岩中很常见，这项技术可以用来测定矿物的年龄，从几千年到几十亿年不等。此外，根据一种矿物的生长是高于还是低于其同位素系统的闭合温度和冷却速度，存在着确定相对离散事件的年代和阐明岩石热历史的潜力。因此，该技术存在各种各样的应用，从高分辨率时间尺度校准到跟踪挖掘和造山侵蚀的速率，到上地壳的埋藏和成岩作用和断裂。该设施的主要研究重点包括：1)通过记录渐进变形和叠印关系，研究大规模构造过程，造山带的演化，以及断层和剪切带的约束滑动时间和速率；2)对盆地演化和上地壳过程进行时间约束，研究断裂、构造和沉积之间的联系，以及深部地球过程的表面表现。该实验室正在支持佛蒙特大学早期职业教师的研究项目，并为附近大学和学院的研究人员以及政府和州机构的研究人员提供40Ar/39Ar分析设备。许多利用这一设施的机构，包括佛蒙特大学，都非常重视本科生的研究；因此，从本科到研究生阶段的教学和培训是实验室使命和文化的重要组成部分。该设施的发展为研究和教育的整合提供了重要的机会，通过学生亲自使用实验室进行独立的研究项目，并酌情作为部门课程的一部分。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。该设施产生的数据正通过在国际期刊上发表和通过设在地球化学中心的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.