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

休斯顿大学购买 TIMS 以扩展应用

• 批准号: 1648630
• 负责人: Alan Brandon
• 金额: $ 33.5万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1648630&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; TIMS; Expanding; Applications; University

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.

NSF资金将用于获取热电离质谱仪（TIMS），以测量元素的同位素比。用TIM获得的同位素比将用于理解地球内部及其表面上的元素周期。 TIMS将成为一个核心设施的一部分，该设施将为大德克萨斯州海湾地区的研究人员提供机会，并将与该地区和国际上的科学家促进合作。 Tims核心设施有着悠久的历史，可为学生提供各种背景和种族的教职员工。因此，在新的TIMS上进行的工作将进一步在涉及妇女和代表性不足的团体的地球化学和考古学的本科和研究生研究中，这将导致从事STEM职业的成功成果。 TIMS将推进化学岩石学，同位素地球化学和考古学研究和培训。 从各种元素的同位素比率将以各种材料进行测量，以提供用于地质过程，地球材料时代以及确定古代人类社会历史的示踪剂。 这些数据将解决的重要问题包括：（1）地球的地幔如何融化，以及这些融化在随后在地幔迁移到表面时如何与地幔反应； （2）沉积盆地黑色页岩形成的时机； （3）海水的化学演化及其与过去的全球气候变化之间的关系； （4）12,800年前，年轻的Dryas巨大灭绝的起源； （5）限制人类社会中的全新世人口转变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准，认为值得通过评估来获得支持。