Acquisition of a TIMS for Expanding Applications at the University of Houston

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NSF funds will be used to acquire a thermal ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS) for the measurement of isotope ratios of elements. The isotope ratios acquired with the TIMS will be used to understand elemental cycles in the interior of the Earth and on its surface. The TIMS will be part of a Core Facility that will enable opportunities for researchers in the greater Texas Gulf region, and will foster collaborations with scientists outside of this region as well as internationally. The TIMS Core Facility has a strong history of serving students, post-docs, and faculty from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. The work performed on the new TIMS will thus further undergraduate and graduate research in geochemistry and archeology involving women and underrepresented groups that will lead to successful outcomes for pursuing STEM careers. The TIMS will advance research and training in chemical petrology, isotope geochemistry and archeology. Isotope ratios from a broad spectrum of elements will be measured on a wide variety of materials to provide tracers for geological processes, ages of Earth materials, and for determining the histories of ancient human societies. Important questions that will be addressed with these data include: (1) how the Earth's mantle melts and how these melts subsequently react with the mantle as they migrate to the surface; (2) the timing of black shale formation in sedimentary basins; (3) the chemical evolution of seawater and how it relates to global climate changes in the past; (4) the origin of the Younger Dryas mass extinction at 12,800 years ago; and (5) constraining the Holocene demographic transformations in human societies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.