TS: Advancing and Broadening Access to Laser-Ablation (U-Th)/He Thermochronlogy

该项目将为CU TRaIL（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校-热年代学研究和仪器实验室）的人类基础设施支持提供资金，以帮助将高空间分辨率的LA-(U-Th)/He热年代学从全球只有少数地质年代学家可以使用的专业方法转变为国家地球科学社区广泛使用的技术。（U-Th）/He测年现在是限制热历史的基本工具，广泛应用于构造、构造、地貌、沉积、岩石学、火山学和行星研究。几乎所有现有的(U-Th)/He数据都是常规的全晶分析。激光烧蚀(LA)-(U-Th)/He定年法是对晶体的一小部分进行一次或多次分析的方法，具有丰富各种研究的巨大潜力。CU TRaIL目前是美国地球科学界全晶体(U-Th)/He数据和培训的主要来源。同样，该项目将通过加速TRaIL的LA-(U-Th)/He开发活动和提供必要的资源以更广泛地提供这种强大的技术，为TRaIL中的LA-(U-Th)/He数据和培训创建一个社区资源。应用领域包括更有效地生成大n碎屑(U-Th)/(He- pb)双日期数据集、多点(U-Th)/He日期剖面以约束基岩热历史、可与其他类型的颗粒内数据（如拉曼）集成的单粒晶内(U-Th)/He图、原位岩石年代学以及传统方法难以分析的矿物分析。新的TRaIL团队成员还将建立新的并参与现有的以bajedi为重点的活动，包括与丹佛79%的少数族裔、以STEM为重点的公立高中建立新的合作伙伴关系，首次让实验室参与科罗拉多大学的“提升研究计划”，该计划旨在让未被充分代表的少数族裔参与STEM研究项目。并与通过RESESS（学生固体地球科学研究经验）项目在TRaIL获得暑期研究经验的少数族裔学生进行互动。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 project will provide funds for human infrastructure support in the CU TRaIL (University of Colorado Boulder - Thermochronology Research and Instrumentation Lab) to help transform high-spatial resolution, LA-(U-Th)/He thermochronology from a specialty method accessible to only a handful of geochronologists worldwide into a technique available for widespread use by the national geoscience community. (U-Th)/He dating is now a fundamental tool for constraining thermal histories, with applications across a spectrum of tectonic, structural, geomorphic, sedimentary, petrologic, volcanogenic, and planetary studies. Nearly all existing (U-Th)/He data are conventional whole-crystal analyses. Laser ablation (LA)-(U-Th)/He dating, in which one or more analyses are acquired on a small portion of a crystal, holds tremendous potential to enrich a wide variety of research. The CU TRaIL currently serves as a major source of whole-crystal (U-Th)/He data and training for the U.S. Earth science community. This project will similarly create a community resource for LA-(U-Th)/He data and training in TRaIL, by accelerating TRaIL’s LA-(U-Th)/He development activities and providing the resources necessary to offer this powerful technique more widely. Areas of application include more efficient generation of large-N detrital (U-Th)/(He-Pb) double-date datasets, multi-spot (U-Th)/He date profiles to constrain bedrock thermal histories, single-grain intracrystalline (U-Th)/He maps that can be integrated with other types of intra-grain data (e.g., Raman), in situ petrochronology, and analysis of minerals for which analytical challenges are posed by the conventional method. The new TRaIL team member will also establish new and engage in existing BAJEDI-focused activities that include a new partnership with a 79% minority, STEM-focused public high school in Denver, involvement of the lab for the first time in the CU Uplift Research Program that entrains underrepresented minorities in STEM research projects, and interacting with underrepresented minority students who are obtaining a summer research experience in TRaIL through the RESESS (Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students) program.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.