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.

地球科学部仪器和设施项目拨款支持在阿拉巴马大学购置一台同位素比质谱仪（IRMS），以促进教师、学生和区域合作研究，重点是破译地球？地球上的气候和水温条件跨越了显著的大灭绝边界？年代的历史。该仪器是专门用于块状同位素古温学分析技术的仪器，虽然相对较新，但已被证明可用于独立估计古代沉积、岩石和化石记录中碳酸盐的形成温度。该仪器将是美国东南部除佛罗里达州南部外的首个同类仪器，并使阿拉巴马州、佐治亚州、密西西比州、路易斯安那州、阿肯色州、田纳西州以及北卡罗来纳州和南卡罗来纳州的研究人员受益。研究人员打算让研究生和本科生参与使用新仪器的体验式学习，并将与当地的HBCU，福特谷州立大学合作，在跨大学合作中促进招募代表性不足的学生进入地球科学领域。被收购的IRMS将能够制作常规？双取代同位素体13C16O18O或质量为47的团块的同位素比值测量，这是含有13C-18O键的CO2分子的丰度高于碳氧同位素随机分布所期望的数量的度量。块状同位素分析可以用来独立地推断碳酸盐沉淀时的形成温度（古温学），而无需对沉淀水的氧同位素组成进行任何假设。块状同位素古温学是一项相对较新的技术，主要用于分析来自多种来源的古碳酸盐物质，包括浅层成岩流体、白云化、土壤碳酸盐、洞穴、甲烷渗漏以及各种生物成因碳酸盐（如双壳类和珊瑚）。由于这项技术相对较新，目前仍在积极开展标准化技术的开发工作，并正在进行实验室间比较。研究应用将包括但不限于研究气候对人类文明扩散的影响，以及土著居民如何利用和制备不同的食物来源；灭绝生物生长速率的古生物学研究；跨越大灭绝边界的古气候变化；对前寒武纪碳酸盐岩成岩作用重要性的研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。