Acquisition of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for Research and Education in Geological and Paleoclimate Studies at the University of Houston

该合同将支持休斯顿大学地球与大气科学系的同位素比质谱仪（IRMS）的采购。该仪器将扩展分析能力，提高分析准确性和精密度，增加样品吞吐量，并使休斯敦大学目前无法进行的分析成为可能。其高度提高的灵敏度和精度允许测量碳酸盐中的团块同位素，以及气体，岩石和其他基质中轻元素（C， H， O， N和S）的传统稳定同位素表征。它将完善每个PI的研究计划，涵盖地质和古气候研究的广泛领域，他们对研究生和本科生的指导和教学能力，以及与其他机构的合作。博士后、本科生和研究生将有机会使用该仪器进行实践训练，并与新颖的科学项目和其他教育活动充分结合。通过实践培训和相关课程，该仪器将成为吸引本科生和研究生参与稳定同位素地球化学的宝贵工具，特别是那些在STEM领域历史上代表性不足的学生（女性和少数民族）。它将为本科生和研究生灌输跨学科知识，并为来自休斯顿大学不同院系、当地教育机构和研究机构的学生、博士后和教师提供服务。更重要的是，通过外展活动，它将加强当地K-12学生的地球科学教育，激励他们考虑在地球科学领域发展事业，并提高大休斯顿地区公众的科学意识。所要求的IRMS仪器将成为研究地球和其他行星体的基本地质过程、古气候对人类进化和迁移的影响、古环境和冰川历史的一个组成部分。它将通过进行精确的同位素测量，促进当前和未来令人兴奋的跨学科研究，并在地球科学的广泛领域开辟新的发现领域。在有机地球化学和天体生物学中，利用地质环境和实验室实验的碳酸盐岩轻烷烃和块状同位素的同位素特征，阐明了它们的反应途径和形成条件，约束了它们的起源。在地质考古学和土壤科学中，块状、三氧和传统的稳定同位素被用来重建过去的气候和环境，以更好地了解人类和古人类进化的背景。在洞穴层科学和湖泊学中，利用洞穴层和湖泊沉积物的常规稳定同位素与最近发展的两种代用物可以提供对古气候和古环境的全面认识。在海洋和冰川地质学中，利用有孔虫的稳定同位素记录来计算南极洲西部过去的海水温度，这些记录是从极地周围深水可能融化主要冰盖底部的沉积物岩心中收集的，以便更好地了解冰川历史。通过目前的合作，史前骨骼的同位素特征将与考古细节和遗传分析相结合，以确定欧洲和东南亚古代人群中的亲属制度和社会不平等的起源。总之，相关的研究项目指出，在休斯顿大学，配备适当外围设备的最先进的IRMS将带来潜在的高影响力科学。这些科学发现将使休斯顿大学处于稳定同位素地球化学研究的前沿。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 will support the acquisition of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Houston. The instrument will expand analytical capabilities, enhance analytical accuracy and precision, increase sample throughput, and enable currently unavailable analyses at the University of Houston. Its highly improved sensitivity and precision allow measurements of clumped isotopes in carbonates, as well as traditional stable isotope characterization of light elements (C, H, O, N, and S) in gases, rocks, and other matrices. It will improve the research program of each PI, which covers a wide range of areas in geological and paleoclimate studies, their abilities to mentor and teach graduate and undergraduate students, and collaborations with other institutions. Postdocs, undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in hands-on training opportunities with this instrument, which are fully integrated with novel scientific projects and other educational activities. Through hands-on trainings and related courses, the instrument will be an invaluable tool for engaging undergraduate and graduate students in stable isotope geochemistry, in particular those historically underrepresented students (women and minorities) in STEM fields. It will infuse undergraduate and graduate students with interdisciplinary knowledge, and serve students, postdocs, and faculty from different departments and colleges at the University of Houston, local educational institutions, and research organizations. More importantly, through outreach activities, it will enhance geoscience education for local K-12 students, motivate them to consider building careers in geoscience, and raise public awareness of science in general in the greater Houston area.The requested IRMS instrument will form an integral component of research into fundamental geological processes on Earth and other planetary bodies, paleoclimatic effects on human evolution and migration, paleoenvironment and glacial history. It will foster current and future exciting interdisciplinary research by making precise isotopic measurements, and enable new fields of discovery in broad areas of Earth sciences. In organic geochemistry and astrobiology, isotopic signatures of light alkanes and clumped isotopes of carbonates from geological environments and laboratory experiments are used to elucidate their reaction pathway and formation condition, and constrain their origin. In geoarchaeology and soil science, clumped, triple oxygen, and traditional stable isotopes are used to reconstruct past climate and past environments to better understand the context in which humans and hominins evolved. In speleothem science and limnology, the use of conventional stable isotopes of speleothem and lake sediments with two recently developed proxies can provide a comprehensive understanding of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. In marine and glacial geology, past ocean water temperatures in west Antarctica are calculated using the stable isotope records from foraminifera, collected from sediment cores in locations where circumpolar deep water may be melting the base of major ice sheets, to better understand glacial history. Through current collaboration, the isotopic signatures of prehistoric skeletons will be combined with archaeological details and genetic analyses to identify the kinship system and origin of social inequality within ancient populations in Europe and Southeast Asia. Altogether, the related research projects point to the potentially high-impact science that a state-of-the-art IRMS with appropriate peripherals would allow at the University of Houston. The scientific findings will place the University of Houston on the leading edge of stable isotope geochemistry research.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.