Elemental analyzer for isotope ratio mass spectrometer for carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements

需要资金购买一台元素分析仪，与质谱仪结合使用，以确定固体、液体和气体样品中碳和氮化合物的同位素组成。获得的同位素组成作为示踪剂，提供有关的来源和环境中的碳和氮的地球化学史的信息。新仪器将使申请人及其同事、博士后研究员、研究助理、研究生和本科生能够对全球碳和氮循环的许多方面进行创新研究，包括：1）确定加拿大地表水和地下水中硝酸盐的来源和命运; 2）评估注入油田的人为CO2的命运;虽然注入CO2主要是为了提高石油采收率（EOR），但预计CO2的地下储存可能大大有助于减少加拿大人为CO2排放量; 3)通过调查储层中沥青原位升级的可行性，改进开采加拿大大量油砂资源的方法;目标是大幅减少油砂开采的环境足迹; 4）确保在开采加拿大煤层气资源期间采取无害环境的做法; 5）调查营养物释放到河流中对水生食物网的影响，6）研究食物网和湖泊沉积对全球碳循环的影响，7）通过重建史前人类饮食结构为考古学研究做出贡献。新获得的仪器还将在培训许多不同学科的新一代学生方面发挥关键作用，促进加拿大自然资源的可持续和无害环境开发。

Funds are requested to purchase an elemental analyzer to be combined with a mass spectrometer for determining isotopic compositions of carbon and nitrogen compounds in solid, liquid, and gaseous samples. The obtained isotopic compositions serve as tracers that provide information about the sources and the biogeochemical history of carbon and nitrogen in the environment. The new instrumentation will enable the applicant and his colleagues, their postdoctoral fellows, research associates, graduate students and undergraduate students to conduct innovative research on many aspects of the global carbon and nitrogen cycles including the following: 1) determine sources and the fate of nitrate in surface water and groundwater in Canada; 2) assess the fate of anthropogenic CO2 injected into oil fields; while CO2 is injected primarily for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery (EOR), it is anticipated that subsurface storage of CO2 may contribute significantly to reducing Canada's anthropogenic CO2 emissions;   3) improve methods to exploit Canada's large oilsand resources by investigating the feasibility for in-situ upgrading of bitumen in the reservoir; the goal is to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of oilsands recovery; 4) ensure environmentally sound practices during the exploitation of Canada's coalbed methane resources; 5) investigate the influence of nutrient release into rivers on aquatic food webs, 6) study the influence of food webs and sedimentation in lakes on the global carbon cycle, and 7) contribute to archaeological research via reconstruction of prehistoric human diets. The newly obtained instrumentation will also play a pivotal role in training a new generation of students in many different disciplines contributing to sustainable and environmentally sound exploitation of Canada's natural resources.