A triple quadrupole ICP-MS for earth, ocean, environmental and chemical science

地球、海洋、环境和化学科学高度依赖于使用材料(固体和液体)的组成来理解在许多不同尺度上运行的过程。无论我们是跟踪环境中的污染物，了解矿床的形成，还是量化营养限制在海洋调节大气气体(如二氧化碳)浓度中的作用，确定所涉及材料的组成都是一个非常强大的工具。在过去的25年里，地球材料痕量元素分析的首选技术已经成为电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)。无论是用于直接分析流体或溶解固体，还是与激光烧蚀系统一起直接分析固体，这些仪器都彻底改变了对地球材料的快速、精确和准确的分析。新一代的电感耦合等离子体质谱仪器将这些仪器的能力提升到了另一个水平，它包括两个而不是一个质量分析仪。这有效地为科学界开辟了一种全新的分析频谱，到目前为止，这些分析要么是不可能的，要么是不切实际的。常规分析可以确定元素周期表中大多数元素的丰度，检测限度通常在万亿分之一的范围或更低的水平。这项提议是为这样一个工具提供部分资金。它的安装将允许在地球、海洋和环境科学以及生物、生物化学和化学等其他学科内支持广泛的研究计划。

Earth, ocean, environmental and chemical sciences are highly dependent on using the composition of materials (solids and liquids) to understand process operating at many different scales. Whether we are tracking contaminants through the environment, understand the formation of ore deposits or quantifying the role of nutrient limitation in oceanic regulation of the concentration of atmospheric gases (e.g. CO2), determining the composition of the materials involved is a very powerful tool. The technique of choice for trace element analysis of Earth materials has become Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) over the last 25 years. Whether used to directly analyse fluids, or dissolved solids, or in conjunction with a laser ablation system to directly analyse solids these instruments have revolutionized the rapid, precise and accurate analysis of earth materials. The new generation of ICP-MS instruments takes the capabilities of these instruments to another level by including two, rather than one, mass analyser. This effectively opens up a whole new spectrum of analyses to the scientific community that have hitherto been either impossible or impractical. Routine analysis allows determination of the abundance of most elements in the periodic table with detection limits typically in the parts per trillion range or lower levels. This proposal is for partial funding for such an instrument. Its installation will allow a wide range of research programs to be supported both within the earth, ocean and environmental sciences and also within other disciplines such as biology, biochemistry and chemistry.