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

成束同位素是分子中任意两种或两种以上稀有同位素的组合。在碳酸盐岩中，磷酸溶解过程中碳酸盐释放出的二氧化碳中的~(13)C和~(18)O的组合被最广泛地研究。这使碳酸盐材料稳定同位素体系的研究发生了革命性变化。块状同位素方法允许科学家通过一次测量，同时获得关于地层温度和地层流体氧同位素组成的信息。除了碳酸盐中的块状同位素外，人们对其他块状同位素系统(例如CH4和O2)的兴趣也越来越大。这种兴趣刺激了质谱学技术的革命。过去六年来，在西雅图、伦敦、波士顿和苏黎世举办的关于这一主题的四次国际讲习班取得了重大进展。这些会议允许那些对块状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，并讨论该科学的最新创新。这些讲习班是早期职业生涯和知名科学家的富有成效的交融，并产生了重要的论文和建立了分析最佳做法。总体而言，它们对实地的未来产生了重大的积极影响。尽管人们对块状同位素的兴趣和使用与日俱增，但仍有几个问题有待解决。将于2016年1月在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡举行的第五届国际块状同位素研讨会将集中讨论协调实验室间交叉校准工作、新的块状同位素系统、认识非平衡的块状同位素系统以及在理解平衡状态下的块状同位素系统方面的进展。探索这些主题对于进一步发展块状同位素技术是至关重要的。美国国家科学基金会资助十名或更多早期职业科学家参加这个研讨会。

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.