Laser-Assisted Stable Isotope Research (LASIR)

该合同提供了一半的资金用于购买设备，这些设备将成为芝加哥大学PI建造的激光辅助提取系统的一部分。该大学承诺提供额外的资金，使此次收购成为可能。该奖项还为PI提供了一个月的夏季工资。该系统将用于分析硅酸盐和氧化物矿物中的氧同位素。氧同位素数据对于重建不同地质环境下岩石的热史具有重要意义。设备上线后，PI将系统评估选定的陆生矿物和陨石矿物的反应性，比较常规和激光加热方法的结果，比较原位激光烧蚀和微钻孔的结果，并研究氟化反应机理。在上述系统评价之后，该系统将应用于矿物的氧同位素研究，在这些研究中，确定非常小距离上的化学变化是特别关键的。

This award provides half of the funding necessary to acquire equipment that will be part of a laser-assisted extraction system to be constructed by the PI at the University of Chicago. The university is committed to provide the additional funds required to make this acquisition possible. A total of one-month's summer salary for the PI is also provided for in this award. The system that will be constructed will be used to analyze oxygen isotopes in silicate and oxide minerals. Oxygen isotope data are important in reconstructing the thermal history of rocks formed in diverse geologic environments. After the equipment is on line the PI will evaluate systematically the reactivity of selected terrestrial and meteoritic minerals, compare the results of conventional and laser heating methods, compare the results of in situ laser ablation and micro-drilling, and study fluorination reaction mechanisms. After the systematic evaluation described above, this system will be applied in oxygen isotope studies of minerals where it is especially critical to determine chemical changes over very small distances.