MRI: Acquisition of a High-Sensitivity Light Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for Critical Zone Studies

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1126627 AufdenkampeThis Major Research Instrumentation grant supports acquisition of a high-sensitivity stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Delta V plus with Conflo IV universal interface) at the Stroud Water Research Center (SWRC). The new instrumentation will provide enhanced capabilities and greater sensitivity analyses than currently available at the SWRC. The new IRMS system will be put to use in several funded projects with the overall goal of exploiting hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon stable isotopes to track organic matter cycling in soils and stream environments. Natural abundance measurements and heavy isotope tracers will be used to track energy and carbon flow in stream ecosystems. Data from these measurements will support the development of dynamic mathematical models describing the movement, quantity and quality and transformation of nutrients through surface earth hydrological processes. Studies in collaboration with regional scientists engaged in NSF-funded Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) sites and a regional Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) will be facilitated.***