"Ultra high-precision, field-deployable water isotopic analyzer for tracing the water cycle at high spatial and temporal resolution"

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The present application is for the purchase of an ultra high-precision, field-deployable water isotopic analyzer for tracing the water cycle at high spatial and temporal resolution. Water isotopes were historically analyzed using isotope-ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) which have relatively slow sample throughput and are costly to purchase and maintain. In the last five years, cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) have revolutionized the type of earth processes and problems that can be examined. Now CRDS have a considerably higher precision than isotope-ratio mass spectrometers while offering other distinct advantages: 1) robustly field-deployable; 2) lower sample and maintenance costs; and 3) higher sample throughputs. Multiple research programs in five distinct areas of the geosciences and engineering will be supported by the proposed equipment: hydrology and water resources, Quaternary geoscience, oceanography and limnology, astrobiology and early earth; and environmental engineering. Research programs examine fluid flow around major faults, wetlands and Andean glaciers; glacier-ocean interactions during the last glacial cycle; the impact of climate change on Arctic Ocean; extreme astrobiological analogue habitats and early earth; and contaminated site remediation. For the primary applicant the equipment is essential to achieving objective #2 described in my first NSERC Discovery grant application. Additionally, collaborating with the seven multidisciplinary programs will significantly increase the scope, impact and productivity of my research program. The equipment is not replacing existing equipment or available at any institution in Quebec or eastern Ontario. It will be housed at the Environmental Engineering laboratory in the Department of Civil Engineering, McGill University. The degree of utilization is expected to be very high (~250 days per year) with eight research programs and ~60 HQP using the equipment over the next five years. The proposed equipment will significantly propel and accelerate the research capability of the isotopic community in Montreal as well as enable the examination of new and important questions in five domains of the sciences and engineering.