Equipment: MRI Track 1: Acquisition of a Laser Ablation Time of Flight Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for UCSB Researchers and Educators

该重大研究仪器(MRI)奖支持为加州大学圣巴巴拉分校(UCSB)的研究和教学购买集成的激光烧蚀飞行时间电感耦合等离子体质谱(LA-TOF-ICP-MS)系统。这一工具将促进对14名UCSB教职员工和研究人员、他们的学生和合作者的调查。它还将使加州其他地方和全球范围内的广泛研究人员和学生能够访问。该系统新的分析能力将提高地球科学及相关领域本科生的学习和教学质量，为本科生和研究生研究项目提供新的机会，并为创建新颖而引人入胜的分析地球化学课程奠定基础。该奖项的专业人员积极参与地球化学学会的能力建设赠款计划，以及由美国国家科学基金会资助的“先进的地质年代学科学、空间和系统”(AGeS3)计划，该计划为代表不足的学生以及来自发展中国家的科学家提供研究机会。LA-TOF-ICP-MS系统能够以最少的样品准备在微米级对地质和生物材料中的元素和同位素变化进行快速三维成像。该系统的主要能力包括在不到30微秒内扫描从钠到铀的整个质谱图的能力，以及以百万分之几的检测极限以每秒高达1000像素的速度例行产生定量图像的能力。具体的研究目标包括：1)测定复杂分带矿物的年龄，以了解一系列岩浆、变质、沉积和构造过程；2)表征U在碳酸盐中往往复杂的分布，以获得更好的U-Pb年龄；以及3)从碳酸盐中恢复详细的古气候代理记录。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of an integrated Laser Ablation Time Of Flight Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA-TOF-ICP-MS) system for research and teaching at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). This instrumentation will facilitate the investigations of fourteen UCSB faculty and researchers, their students, and collaborators. It will also enable access for a broad range of researchers and students elsewhere in California and globally. The new analytical capabilities of this system will improve the quality of undergraduate learning and instruction in earth science and allied fields, provide new opportunities s for undergraduate and graduate research projects, and form the basis for the creation of novel and engaging analytical geochemistry coursework. The PIs on this award actively participate in the Geochemical Society’s capacity-building grants program, and the NSF-funded ‘Advancing Geochronology Science, Spaces, and Systems’ (AGeS3), which fund research opportunities for underrepresented students as well as scientists from developing countries.The LA-TOF-ICP-MS system enables rapid three-dimensional imaging of elemental and isotopic variations in geological and biological materials at the micron scale with minimal sample preparation. Key capabilities of this system include the ability to scan the entire mass spectrum from sodium to uranium in less than 30 microseconds, and the routine production of quantitative images at a rate of up to 1000 pixels per second at detection limits in the parts-per-million range. Specific research objectives include: 1) dating complexly zoned minerals to understand a range of magmatic, metamorphic, sedimentary, and tectonic processes, 2) characterizing the often-complex distribution of U in carbonates to obtain better U-Pb ages, and; 3) retrieving detailed paleoclimate proxy records from 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.