Upgrade of Research Equipment for the UNM Volatiles Laboratory

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。它将在新墨西哥大学（UNM）建立科学基础设施，以便测量火山喷发和温泉中稀有气体氦的成分。目前，美国只有很少的实验室有能力对火山气体进行这些测量。稀有气体氦在地球科学中被用作地球内部深处信息的信使。从火山口和温泉释放出的氦气成分的变化已经被证明是新岩浆进入火山系统的信号，或者是导致火山爆发的气体压力积累的信号。这个项目的重点是新墨西哥州的山谷火山口释放出的氦成分，这是一座超级火山，在大约一百万年前产生了一次大规模的喷发。这座火山在深处仍然有一个巨大的岩浆体，火山口里还有一个温泉系统。将在火山口的泉水处收集样本，并与最近的地震和成像研究进行比较，以更好地了解山谷火山口火山系统的动力学。我们期望从该项目中学到的东西可以应用于其他更活跃的火山系统，以提高我们预测火山爆发的能力，以拯救生命和财产。该项目还通过提供为期4周的关于地球科学中的氦气主题的研讨会，以及到附近的氦气厂进行实地考察，以提取这种有价值的商品用于商业用途，支持对传统上代表性不足的地球科学群体的教育。该项目的重点是升级新墨西哥大学挥发性物质实验室，使其能够分析火山和热液系统气体样本中的惰性气体同位素。电子和真空系统升级将大大扩展我们目前的分析能力，这些分析能力仅限于气相色谱法和四极杆质谱法对主要气体和痕量气体的相对丰度分析，以及红外同位素比光谱法对碳稳定同位素的分析。升级后的实验室的直接应用将是收集和分析新墨西哥州Valles Caldera的大量气体样本，以通过空间和时间限制地幔挥发性物质输入岩浆-热液系统。为此目的收集的氦同位素数据将与新获得的地震层析成像数据进行空间关联，以阐明火山口下岩浆系统的动力学。Valles火山口系统气体排放的时间采样程序将使我们能够开发模型，最终可以为导致火山爆发的过程提供信息，并提高我们对大型火山口系统中挥发性来源（地壳与地幔）的理解。我们更广泛的影响活动包括教授一个关于氦同位素在地球科学中的应用以及氦作为现代社会资源的本科生研讨会。该研讨会将针对来自新墨西哥大学分校的传统代表性不足的学生，并提供参观氦气厂的机会，亲眼目睹这种宝贵的自然资源的提取过程。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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). It will build scientific infrastructure at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to enable the measurements of the composition of the noble gas helium in volcanic emanations and thermal springs. Currently there are very few laboratories in the US that have the ability to make these measurements in volcanic gases. The noble gas helium is used in the geosciences as a messenger of information from deep in the Earth’s interior. Changes in the composition of helium emitted from volcanic vents and thermal springs have been shown to signal the arrival of new magma into a volcanic system or the accumulation of gas pressure that can lead to volcanic eruptions. This project focusses on the helium composition emitted from the Valles Caldera in New Mexico, a super volcano that produced a massive eruption about one million years ago. This volcano still hosts a large magma body at depth and a system of thermal springs in the crater. Samples will be collected at these springs throughout the caldera and compared to recent earthquake and imaging studies to understand better the dynamics of the Valles Caldera volcanic system. What we expect to learn from the project can then be applied to other more active volcanic systems to improve our ability to forecast volcanic eruptions to save life and property. The project also supports education of traditionally underrepresented groups in the geosciences by offering a 4-week seminar on the topic of helium in the earth sciences and a field trip to a nearby helium plant that extracts this valuable commodity for commercial uses. This project focusses on an upgrade of the UNM Volatiles Laboratory to enable the analysis of noble gas isotopes in gas samples from volcanic and hydrothermal systems. The electronics and vacuum system upgrade will significantly expand our current analytical capabilities which are limited to the relative abundance analyses of major and trace gases by gas chromatography and quadrupole mass spectrometry and to carbon stable isotope analyses by infrared isotope ratio spectrometry. The immediate application of the upgraded laboratory will be to collect and analyze a large number of gas samples from Valles Caldera, New Mexico to constrain the mantle volatile input into the magmatic-hydrothermal system through space and time. The helium isotope data collected for this purpose will be correlated spatially with newly acquired seismic tomography data to elucidate the dynamics of the magmatic system under the caldera. A temporal sampling program of gas discharges from the Valles Caldera system will enable us to develop models that can eventually inform processes leading to volcanic eruptions and improve our understanding of volatile sources (crustal versus mantle) in large caldera systems. Our broader impact activities include the teaching of an undergraduate seminar on the utility of helium isotopes in the Earth Sciences as well as helium as a resource in modern society. The seminar will target traditionally underrepresented students from UNM branch campuses and offer the opportunity to visit a helium plant to see first-hand the process of extraction of this valuable natural resource.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.