Acquisition of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for Clumped Isotope Analysis to Expand the Alabama Stable Isotope Laboratory

购置同位素比质谱仪用于团块同位素分析，以扩大阿拉巴马州稳定同位素实验室

• 批准号: 1832350
• 负责人: Thomas Tobin
• 金额: $ 25.97万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1832350&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Isotope; Ratio; Mass; Spectrometer

This Division of Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities Program grant supports acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) at the University of Alabama to facilitate faculty, student and regional collaborative research with a focus on deciphering Earth?s climate and water body temperature conditions across notable mass extinction boundaries in Earth?s history. The instrument to be acquired is specialized for the analysis technique of clumped isotope paleothermometry, and while relatively new has been shown to prove useful for independently estimating the temperature of formation of carbonates in the ancient sedimentary, rock and fossil records. The instrument would be first-of-its kind in the SE U.S., with the exception of south Florida and benefit researchers across the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina. The investigators intend to engage graduate and undergraduate students in experiential learning using the new instrument and will work with a local HBCU, Fort Valley State University, in a cross-university collaboration to facilitate the recruitment of underrepresented students to the geosciences.The IRMS to be acquired will be capable of making routine ?clumped? isotope ratio measurements of the double substituted isotopologue 13C16O18O or mass 47 clump, which is a measure of the enrichment of the number of CO2 molecules containing a 13C-18O bond above the number expected by a random distribution of carbon and oxygen isotopes. Clumped isotopic analysis can be used to independently infer the temperature of formation of carbonates at the time they were precipitated (paleothermometry) without any assumptions about the oxygen isotopic composition of the water from which they precipitated. Clumped isotope paleothermometry is a relatively new technique which has been primarily employed in the analysis of ancient carbonate material from multiple sources, including shallow diagenetic fluids, dolomitization, soil carbonates, speleothems, methane seeps, and a variety of biogenic carbonates (e.g., bivalves and corals). As the technique is relatively new there is still active development work being conducted on standardization techniques and inter-laboratory comparisons are being made. Research applications will include, but are not limited to, studies of the effects of climate on the proliferation of human civilization and how different food sources were utilized and prepared by indigenous populations; paleontological investigations of the growth rates of extinct organisms; paleoclimate changes across mass extinction boundaries; and studies of the importance of diagenesis in Precambrian carbonates.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.

这种地球科学仪器仪器和设施计划的赠款支持阿拉巴马大学的同位比率比率质谱仪（IRMS），以促进教师，学生和区域合作研究，重点是破译地球的气候和水体温度在地球历史上显着的巨大巨大范围。 要获取的仪器专门用于汇总同位素苍白热测法的分析技术，尽管已证明相对较新可用于独立估计古代沉积物，岩石和化石记录中碳酸盐形成温度。 除南佛罗里达州外，该乐器将是美国东南部的首个，以及在阿拉巴马州，乔治亚州，密西西比州，路易斯安那州，阿肯色州，田纳西州，田纳西州和北卡罗来纳州的各州的研究人员外。 调查人员打算使用新乐器与研究生和本科生一起参与体验学习，并将与当地的HBCU瓦利堡州立大学一起进行跨大学合作，以促进代表性不足的学生招募irms。双重取代的同位素学13C16O18O或质量47团的同位素比测量值，这是衡量含有13C-18O键的二氧化碳数量的量度，高于预期的碳和氧同位素的随机分布所期望的数量。 聚集的同位素分析可用于独立地推断出碳酸盐在沉淀时的形成温度（古热量计），而没有任何假设对它们沉淀的水的氧同位素组成的假设。 结块的同位素化学测量法是一种相对较新的技术，主要用于分析来自多种来源的古代碳酸盐材料，包括浅成岩液，白云岩，土壤碳酸盐，碳酸盐，辣椒，甲烷，甲烷渗漏，以及多种生物碳酸盐（例如，双碳酸盐盐）（例如，双二个碳酸盐盐）。 由于该技术相对较新，因此仍在进行标准化技术和实验室间比较进行积极的发展工作。 研究应用程序将包括但不限于对气候对人类文明扩散的影响以及土著人群如何利用和准备不同的食物来源的研究；对灭绝生物的生长速率的古生物学研究；质量灭绝边界之间的古气候变化；该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并研究了成岩作用在前寒冷碳酸盐中的重要性的研究，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估的。