Acquisition of a 193 nm excimer laser ablation system and optical profiler for in situ (U-Th)/He and U-Pb geochronology and thermochronology at the University of Colorado Boulder

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The core missions of the CU TRaIL (University of Colorado Boulder - Thermochronology Research and Instrumentation Lab) are to foster innovative, interdisciplinary, and high-caliber research while also providing geochronology data and training to the broader Earth science community. This project will acquire three pieces of instrumentation that will add new high-spatial resolution capabilities to the CU TRaIL. This equipment will diversify the services that the lab offers, expand the opportunities that it provides to visitors, and enrich an array of ongoing research that includes studies of landscape evolution and topographic development, work on lunar rocks to decipher the impact history of the Moon, and investigations in ancient rocks to constrain development of the "Great Unconformity" and links with biologic change. The project includes support for an underrepresented undergraduate summer intern, an undergraduate research seminar, and three undergraduate research projects.This project will acquire: 1) an excimer laser-ablation system, 2) hardware to build a quadrupole He line dedicated to in situ He analysis, and 3) an optical profiler. The equipment will advance the lab?s research and that of its user community by enabling in situ (U-Th)/He dating, U-Th and He mapping of single crystals, U-Pb dating, and in situ measurements and mapping of other elements. These new capabilities will allow: 1) rapid sample screening for strategic mineral selection, 2) quantification of intracrystalline heterogeneities, 3) direct measurement of diffusion gradients in single crystals, 4) chemical characterization, 5) dating of imperfect and small crystals, 6) largely non-destructive analysis of high-value samples, 7) avoidance of U loss that can occur during conventional whole-crystal heating, 8) more efficient analysis of higher-retentivity phases, 9) possible increased throughput for detrital investigations, and 10) in situ U-Pb and (U-Th)/He double-dating. The project includes support for an underrepresented undergraduate summer intern, an undergraduate research seminar, and three undergraduate research projects.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.