MRI: Acquisition of a High Mass Resolution/High Sensitivity Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer For Earth Sciences

稳定同位素示踪剂在地球科学研究中的应用，提供了关于自然界中的各种过程的特别有价值的信息，无论是在今天还是在古代。使用这些示踪剂的研究已经看到了广泛的应用开发与许多桥梁地球科学与学科，如化学，生物学和物理学以及应用科学在工业和医学。随着新的想法和技术的发展，稳定同位素研究人员提出了一些问题，这些应用程序已经开发了更精确和更精细的测量，开辟了新的研究类型，有时是新的领域。这种发展的一个最近的例子涉及研究稀有同位素有多种取代的物种的同位素。这些同位素分子或同位素体可以用来询问问题远远超出了那些可以用现有的稳定同位素技术研究，这些新的方法有望提供新的信息相关的地质，大气和生物过程的研究，并在过去，有影响内以及超越地球科学的传统限制。 该补助金支持最近开发的最先进的高质量分辨率/高灵敏度同位素比质谱仪（HR/HS-IRMS）的收购，该质谱仪由马里兰州大学科学家的跨学科团队设计用于测量同位素。所要求的仪器将支持三个一级科学目标：（1）查明大西洋中部国家甲烷的来源、通量和组成，以便实施地方控制和改进对全球预算和不断增加的大气负担的定义;（二）结合更传统的同位素和浓度数据使用分子氧的双取代同位素物来限制光合作用（3）发展新的硫同位素体系（36 S），为研究硫代谢的生态学和再氧化硫循环的作用，包括其与全球海洋碳氧循环的联系提供新的途径。第一个目标将提供了解区域和全球范围内甲烷的生物源与化石源所需的关键信息;第二个目标将有助于了解北极季节性无冰海洋系统的反应，第三个目标将有助于了解S循环过程及其与现代和古代系统中其他元素循环的联系。该仪器将是美国东海岸的第一个此类仪器，支持新的大西洋中部研究，为马里兰州气候变化计划和区域温室气体倡议（RGGI涉及九个州）提供政策相关科学，以及对全球范围内甲烷循环的更广泛影响。该仪器将支持整个大学系统的广泛研究活动，长期目标是30%的外部地球科学用户将利用其能力扩展其科学和社会相关工作。该仪器将促进教学和学习，在实验室研究中发挥核心作用，包括指导当地高中的学生，本科生和来自其他机构的访客。特别是在马里兰州大学，这些活动将扩大代表性不足的群体（妇女、非裔美国人、西班牙裔）对地球科学研究的参与。从公众参与活动的角度来看，仪器将被纳入现有的计划，包括史密森学会国家航空航天博物馆青年计划，马里兰州巴尔的摩县（UMBC）选择计划，UMD新生创新和研究经验（FIRE）计划，以及马里兰州日开放日，约75，000名游客来到校园。

The use of stable isotope tracers in Earth Science research has provided particularly valuable information about processes that operate in nature, both today and in the ancient past. Studies using these tracers have seen a wide array of applications develop with many that bridge Earth science with disciplines such as chemistry, biology, and physics as well as applied science in industry and medicine. The applications have followed questions raised by stable isotope researchers as new ideas and technology have been developed where more precise and more finely focused measurements open up new types of studies, sometimes new fields. A recent example of such a development relates to the study isotopic of species with multiple substitutions of rare isotopes. These isotopic molecules or isotopologues can be used to interrogate questions well beyond those that can be studied with existing stable isotope techniques, and these new approaches promise to provide novel information relevant to study of geological, atmospheric, and biologic processes, and as in the past, to have implications within as well as beyond the traditional limits of Earth science. This grant supports acquisition of a recently developed state-of-the-art High Mass Resolution/High Sensitivity Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (HR/HS-IRMS) designed for measurements of isotopologues by a cross disciplinary team of University of Maryland scientists. The requested instrument will support three, first-order scientific objectives: (1) identification of the sources, fluxes, and composition of mid-Atlantic States methane for implementing local controls and improved definition of the global budget and increasing atmospheric burden; (2) use of the doubly substituted isotopologues of molecular oxygen in combination with more traditional isotopic and concentration data for constraint of photosynthetic production and respiration consumption of oxygen at the time of ice breakup in the arctic oceans; and (3) development of a new isotopic system for sulfur (36S) that will provide new ways to study the ecology of the S metabolisms and the role of reoxidative S-cycling, including its connections to the global oceanic cycles of carbon and oxygen. The first objective will provide key information needed to understand the biogenic vs. fossil sources of methane on a regional and global scale; the second objective will contribute to understanding of the response of seasonally ice free marine systems in the Arctic, and the third objective will contribute to understanding the processes of S-cycling and their linkages to other element cycles in modern and ancient systems. The instrumentation will be the first of its kind on the east coast of the United States, supporting new mid-Atlantic research that will provide policy relevant science for the Maryland Climate Change Plan and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI involves nine states), as well as wider implications for methane cycling on the global scale. The instrumentation will support a wide range of research activities across the university system with a long-term goal of 30% external Earth Science users who will draw on its capabilities to extend its scientific and societally-relevant work. The instrumentation will promote teaching and learning with a central role in laboratory research that include mentoring of students from local high schools, undergraduate students, and visitors from other institutions. At the University of Maryland in particular, these activities will broaden the participation of under-represented groups, (women, African American, Hispanic) in Earth Science research. From the standpoint of activities that engage the public, the instrumentation will be incorporated into existing programs, including the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum Youth Program, the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Choice Program, the UMD Freshman Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) Program, as well as the Maryland Day open house when ~75,000 visitors come to campus.