Purpose-built continuous leaching module for time-resolved mineral phase analysis

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Funding is requested to acquire instrumentation that provides an alternative to conventional batch dissolution for the analysis of microfossils and carbonate minerals by allowing for the gradual dissolution of samples and continuous analysis of the effluent. The key benefit of this dissolution technique (flow-through time-resolved analysis, FT-TRA) is the ability to differentiate between different mineral phases over the course of a dissolution experiment. Two initial applications of the FT-TRA technique are put forward in the proposal, illustrating the diversity of applications for the proposed instrumentation. (1) Elemental ratios in marine microfossils are used as a proxy for past environmental conditions. A significant problem associated with elemental ratios measured in batch-dissolved microfossils is that partial dissolution on the seafloor, calcite overgrowth, and contamination by various mineral phases obscure the elemental ratios of the biogenic calcite that record the targeted information. The proposed instrumentation allow for continuous monitoring of the elemental ratios as the microfossils are slowly dissolved and the effluent continuously analyzed. As a result, the elemental composition from the biogenic calcite can be clearly isolated. (2) Some mine wastes trap the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, thus providing an environmental benefit. However, this benefit is only realized if the trapped carbon is derived from the atmosphere. The requested instrumentation enables the fingerprinting of the origin of bound carbon dioxide, thus assessing the net greenhouse gas benefit of carbon fixation.