Support for the 5th International Clumped Isotope Workshop; Saint Petersburg, Florida; January, 2016

团块同位素是分子中任意两种或两种以上稀有同位素的组合。以碳酸盐岩为例，对碳酸盐岩在磷酸溶解过程中释放的二氧化碳中13C和18O的组合进行了最广泛的研究。这为碳酸盐物质的稳定同位素系统研究带来了革命性的变化。团块同位素方法使科学家们能够通过一次测量同时获得地层温度和地层流体氧同位素组成的信息。除了碳酸盐中的团块同位素外，人们对其他团块同位素系统（例如CH4和O2）的兴趣也在增加。这种兴趣刺激了质谱技术的革命。在过去六年中，在西雅图、伦敦、波士顿和苏黎世举行的关于这一主题的四次国际研讨会取得了重大进展。这些会议允许那些对团块同位素的分析和应用感兴趣的人在三到四天的时间内进行互动，分享方法和应用，并讨论科学上的最新创新。这些研讨会是早期职业科学家和成熟科学家富有成效的交流，并产生了重要的论文和建立了分析最佳实践。总的来说，他们对该领域的未来产生了重大的积极影响。尽管人们对团块同位素的兴趣和使用越来越大，但仍有几个问题有待解决。第五届国际团块同位素研讨会将于2016年1月在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡举行，重点讨论协调实验室间的交叉校准工作、新的团块同位素系统、非平衡团块同位素系统的识别以及对平衡团块同位素系统的理解进展。探讨这些问题对团块同位素技术的进一步发展至关重要。美国国家科学基金会资助参加本次研讨会的10名或更多的早期职业科学家。

Clumped isotopes are the combination of any two or more of the rare isotopes in a molecule. In the case of carbonate rocks, the combination of 13C and 18O in the CO2 released from carbonate during the dissolution by phosphoric acid has been the most extensively investigated. This has revolutionized the study of the stable isotope systematics of carbonate materials. The clumped isotope method allows scientists, with one measurement, to obtain information about the temperature of formation and the oxygen isotopic composition of the formation fluid at the same time. In addition to the clumped isotopes in carbonates, there is increasing interest in other clumped isotope systems (CH4 and O2 for example). This interest has spurred a revolution in mass spectrometric techniques. Significant progress has been made at the past four International Workshops on this topic, held in Seattle, London, Boston, and Zurich over the past six years. These meetings allow those interested in the analyses and applications of clumped isotopes to interact over a three to four day period, share methods and applications, and discuss the recent innovations in the science. The workshops have been a productive intermingling of early career and established scientists, and have resulted in significant papers and establishment of analytical best practices. Overall they have had significant positive impact upon the future of the field. Despite growing interest in and use of clumped isotopes, several problems remain to be solved. The 5th International Clumped Isotope Workshop, to be held in January, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Florida, will focus on coordinating inter-laboratory cross-calibration efforts, new clumped isotope systems, recognition of non-equilibrium clumped isotope systems, and progress in understanding clumped isotope systems in equilibrium. Exploring these topics is essential for the further development of clumped isotope techniques. NSF funding supports participants of ten or more early career scientists in this workshop.