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

地球科学仪器和设施计划拨款支持在亚拉巴马大学购买同位素比质谱仪（IRMS），以促进教师，学生和区域合作研究，重点是破译地球？在地球上显著的大规模灭绝边界的气候和水体温度条件？的历史。 将购置的仪器专门用于同位素成团古温度测定法的分析技术，虽然相对较新，但已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首款同类仪器，除了南佛罗里达和利益研究人员在整个国家的亚拉巴马，格鲁吉亚，密西西比，路易斯安那州，阿肯色州，田纳西州，北和南卡罗来纳州。 调查人员打算让研究生和本科生使用新仪器进行体验式学习，并将与当地HBCU，福特瓦利州立大学，在跨大学合作，以促进招聘代表性不足的学生到地球科学。结块的？双取代同位素体13 C16 O 18 O或质量47团簇的同位素比测量，其是含有13 C-18 O键的CO2分子的数目的富集的量度，所述数目高于通过碳和氧同位素的随机分布预期的数目。 成块同位素分析可用于独立推断碳酸盐沉淀时的形成温度（古温度测定法），而无需对沉淀水的氧同位素组成进行任何假设。 成块同位素古温度测量是一种相对较新的技术，其主要用于分析来自多个来源的古碳酸盐物质，包括浅成岩流体、石化、土壤碳酸盐、洞穴沉积物、甲烷渗漏和各种生物成因碳酸盐（例如，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的比较。 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准备不同的食物来源;对灭绝生物的生长速度进行古生物学调查;跨越大规模灭绝界限的古气候变化;该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.