Acquisition of a continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) system for the Organic Geochemistry Core Facility at Brown University

该地球科学部仪器和设施项目资助了布朗大学用于气候、环境和生物地球化学研究的同位素比质谱仪（IRMS）系统的采购。新系统将成为布朗大学四名主要研究人员正在进行和计划中的研究项目的关键工具，这些项目有NSF资助的记录，还有一名即将上任的新教员，以及教育和推广活动。该仪器将作为布朗大学有机地球化学核心设施的一部分进行管理和维护，以便为大量的国内外学生、访客和合作者提供服务。在过去的20年里，调查人员和技术人员在操作和维护几个质谱仪系统方面取得了成功的记录。IRMS将配置为连续流（CF）同位素比测量单个有机分子，这些有机分子在进入IRMS之前通过气相色谱法选择。使用CF-IRMS进行化合物特异性同位素分析（CSIA）对于破译气候、环境和生态系统变化档案，获得生物地球化学循环的新见解，以及促进跨学科合作至关重要。CSIA可以更好地推断过去存在的优势植物类型或自然生态系统中食物网的结构等古环境条件。在开发和使用CSIA之前，由不同生物产生的复杂分子混合物组成的有机物的大量同位素测量混淆了对目标古环境过程和条件的解释。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。

This Division of Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities Program award supports acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) system for climate, environmental, and biogeochemical research at Brown University. The new system will be a critical tool for ongoing and planned research projects of four principal investigators at Brown with demonstrated records of NSF funding, and an incoming new faculty member, as well as for educational and outreach activities. The instrument will be managed and maintained as part of Brown’s Organic Geochemistry Core Facility so that it can serve a large number of domestic and international students, visitors, and collaborators. Investigators and technicians have a successful record of operating and maintaining several mass spectrometer systems in the past 20 years. The IRMS would be configured for continuous flow (CF) isotope ratio measurement of individual organic molecules that have been selected via gas chromatography prior to inlet to the IRMS. Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) using CF-IRMS is central to deciphering archives of climate, environmental and ecosystem change, gaining new insights to biogeochemical cycles, and fostering inter-disciplinary collaborations. CSIA can be used to better infer paleoenvironmental conditions such as the dominant plant types extant in the past or the structure of food webs in natural ecosystems. Prior to the development and use of CSIA, bulk isotopic measurement of organic matter made up of a complicated mixture of molecules produced by different organisms confounded interpretation of targeted paleoenvironmental processes and conditions.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.