MRI: Acquisition of a New Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with Carbonate System to Support Research and Education at the University of Southern California

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Funding will be used to acquire a new dual inlet stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer with carbonate preparation system and clumped isotope capability for the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Southern California. The faculty and students at USC who are engaged in studies using isotope methods will use the new instrument to investigate some of society’s greatest challenges, to understand how natural processes affect the Earth’s environment on decadal and longer time scales. Without a clear understanding of Earth’s natural environmental behavior, it would be very difficult to adequately assess how anthropogenic influences will ultimately influence the surface environment. The stable isotope laboratory at USC is a research and an educational facility. Graduate and undergraduate students will use the new instrument to support their education and career development goals. Students will be trained in isotope geochemistry and in the operation and maintenance of the new instrument, as well as gas extractions for mass spectrometry. The acquisition of a new stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer is necessary to continue these activities at USC. Faculty and students at USC and nearby California State University Dominguez Hills conduct NSF-sponsored environmental research that requires thousands of stable isotope measurements each year. This research includes investigations of geologic processes that influence natural variations in atmospheric CO2 that accompanied some of Earth’s greatest climatic changes during the past 1 million years. Other research involves reconstructing paleo-precipitation records with stable isotope tracers at key times in the past where climate variability may have influenced human history. The new isotope instrument will facilitate new and innovative research using clumped isotopes to study the ocean’s Lithium budget in Earth’s ancient past. Measurements of the stable isotopes of nitrogen are being used to study biological nitrogen cycling in the modern ocean. The new instrument will ensure the continued success of these endeavors and provide opportunities for new innovative and interdisciplinary research at USC. The new isotope ratio mass spectrometer will replace an instrument that is no longer operational after 18 years of continuous use. The new instrument is manufactured by Nu Instruments. It will be equipped with dual inlet and multicollectors with electronics specifically designed to conduct high precision isotope ratio measurements of very small gas samples. The instrument will also be equipped with an automated carbonate preparation system for continuous online measurements of 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.