Early Career: Acquisition of a Particle Size Analyzer for Interdisciplinary Research and Undergraduate Research Training

该项目将使威廉和玛丽学院能够获得激光衍射粒度分析仪，以支持几个机构的教员研究和本科教育。该仪器能够快速分析颗粒的大小和分布，使其广泛适用于沉积物的表征，以解决陆地、海洋和湖泊环境中的地质问题。该仪器将用于研究北极气候变化、早期人类与景观的相互作用、切萨皮克湾流域的农业径流以及海岸过程的项目。由于该仪器坚固耐用，用户友好，它将用于支持本科研究培训，增加本科课程和实验室练习，并将为当地两年制社区学院托马斯·纳尔逊社区学院的教职员工和学生提供教育推广机会。激光衍射粒度分析仪将为威廉与玛丽学院和弗吉尼亚海洋科学研究所的各种研究项目做出贡献，通过快速分析沉积物的大小和分布来区分地质单位，并在各种沉积环境中评估现在和过去的条件。一项主要研究是从湖泊沉积岩芯中重建格陵兰、挪威、斯瓦尔巴特群岛和法罗群岛过去更新世和全新世的高分辨率气候变化。第二个项目是评估切萨皮克湾流域的农业径流以及减少泥沙和养分输送的控制措施的有效性。第三个项目是通过将详细的粒度数据与金属含量和短寿命放射性核素的测量结合起来，检查流域和沉积环境中的污染源。更广泛地说，该仪器将支持弗吉尼亚海洋科学研究所关于海岸和河口物理、海岸地貌演变、盐沼开发和对环境变化的反应以及大陆边缘环境中的沉积作用的研究。

This project will enable the College of William and Mary to obtain a laser diffraction particle size analyzer to support faculty research and undergraduate education at several institutions. The instrument's capacity for rapid analysis of the size and distribution of particles makes it broadly applicable for characterization of sediments to address geologic questions in terrestrial, marine, and lacustrine settings. The instrument will be used in projects that study Arctic climate change, interactions of early humans and landscapes, agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and coastal processes. Because the instrument is robust and user friendly, it will be used to support undergraduate research training, augment undergraduate courses and laboratory exercises, and will also provide educational outreach opportunities to faculty and students at Thomas Nelson Community College, a local two-year community college. The laser diffraction particle size analyzer will contribute to a variety of research projects at the College of William and Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences by providing rapid analysis of the size and distribution of sediment to differentiate geologic units and evaluate present and past conditions in a variety of depositional settings. A major study is to generate high-resolution reconstructions of past climate changes in the Pleistocene and Holocene at sites in Greenland, Norway, Svalbard, and the Faroe Islands from lake sediment cores. A second project is assessing agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the effectiveness of control measures to reduce sediment and nutrient transport. A third project is examining pollution sources in watersheds and sedimentary environments by coupling detailed grain size data with measurements of metal content and short-lived radionuclides. More broadly the instrument will support research at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences on coastal and estuarine physics, coastal morphologic evolution, salt marsh development and response to environmental change, and sedimentation in continental margin environments.