Acquisition of New Thermal Analysis Instrumentation for Increased Capacity of Characterization of Organic Matter in Soils and Sediments

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1541588PlanteThis Division of Earth Science Instrumentation and Facilities Program grant supports acquisition of a Netzsch simultaneous Thermal Analyzer for analysis of soil and sediment organic carbon. The requested instrument includes the capabilities for automated operation. The instrument will support studies that investigate the character, stability and content of organic matter in soils, sediments, composts, biochars, and other environmental samples and will allow for high throughput, unattended analysis in support of large-scale soil ecosystem studies. The instrument will support undergraduate and graduate research training. This support is congruent with NSFs mission of promoting the progress of science and advancing the national health, prosperity and welfare given the importance of training the next generation scientific workforce in modern techniques of geochemical oanalysis and research methods and the societal importance of understanding the impacts of changing climate and land use, including agricultural practices, on soil carbon reservoirs.Research using the instrument will allow exploration of the stability and composition of soil organic matter and complement techniques to identify specific soil minerals (XRD), the structure of organic carbon bearing compounds (NMR), and the age of organic carbon pools (AMS radiocarbon dating). The instrument will support studies of a range of soil ecosystems through use on samples from numerous NSF/EAR supported Critical Zone Observatories to better understand the impacts of climate and land use change on soil carbon across space and time.