Acquisition of Mass Spectrometers for the Cornell Laboratory for Natural Abundance Isotope Analysis

稳定同位素质谱法的发展彻底改变了提出和回答生物和地质过程之间的相互作用如何定义地球环境的问题的能力。生物地球化学这门学科在生物学和地质学的交界处迅速发展。稳定同位素质谱法使生物地球化学家能够在从微生物到全球过程的范围内提出问题，这些问题对于理解地球生态系统如何运作以及生物圈如何与人类活动联系至关重要。分析稳定同位素的自然丰度的一个特殊价值是，它们整合了空间和时间上的信息，并允许分析过程复杂相互作用的净结果。此外，这些方法将研究人员从“海森堡不确定性”原理中解放出来，因为它适用于生物地球化学；我们对过程的最终结果进行采样，而不影响它们，而大多数其他研究生态系统生物地球化学的方法由于采样而导致功能的改变。简要浏览一下主要的科学期刊就会发现，稳定同位素技术对我们在生物地球化学领域取得的最重要进展的贡献越来越大。事实上，在《自然》或《科学》等著名期刊上，使用稳定同位素数据的研究现在已成为常态，而不是例外。尽管这种重要性日益增加，但在美国和国际上，用于生物地球化学研究的最先进的质谱设备数量相对有限。针对下一代生物地球化学家的正规培训项目甚至更加有限。在这项提案中，我们寻求资金在康奈尔大学建立一个质谱分析设施，即“康奈尔自然丰度同位素分析实验室”。该设施将为同位素分析和方法开发提供最先进的实验室，并将作为康奈尔大学不同教职员工和学生之间互动的中心，这些教职员工和学生目前正在研究地质学和生物学之间的概念接口。利用其他来源的资金，我们计划为学生和访问科学家制定一个正式的同位素技术培训计划。该项目将为研究生和研究生研究人员提供现场专业知识和培训奖学金，并为访客提供机会，以获得运行仪器和开发同位素技术的技能。该计划还将提供一个交流思想、促进跨学科研究和加强同位素仪器培训的论坛。我们相信，仪器、研究和培训之间的这种平衡将使该设施对国内和国际的生物地球化学研究具有独特的重要性。该设施将配备三个主要仪器和适当的实验室设施，以便通过广泛的同位素应用制备和分析样品。两台Finnigan MAT稳定同位素比质谱仪（IRMS）将提供C、N、O、S和H的同位素比分析，具有分析液体、颗粒和气体样品的能力，并将具有适当的化合物特异性质谱接口。一台IRMS （delta S, Finnigan Mat）将用于处理和分析14名核心教师及其研究生和研究生同事以及目前在研究中使用同位素技术的校外科学家产生的大量样品（每年1万份）。第二个IRMS（型号252，Finnigan Mat）将用于高精度（+ 0.005‰）分析（化合物特定，以及高精度气体比测定），培训和方法开发。一台惠普电感耦合等离子体质谱计（ICP-MS）将提供多达40种或更多元素浓度的快速有效分析，允许在万亿分之一的水平上进行微量元素分析。这些信息可以通过生态系统内复杂的流动路径，为来自不同来源的不同元素的运动和混合提供“指纹”，并提供有关化学环境和转化的详细信息。这种同时测量同位素比率和元素浓度的能力，为跟踪地球自然生态系统内部和之间元素和水的生物地球化学运动和循环提供了强大的能力。该设施将加强康奈尔大学教职员工和实验室团队的研究，这些团队使用自然丰度稳定同位素方法来研究生物学和地质学之间的界面。目前，这些小组必须将他们的样品送到外部实验室，周转时间相对较长，而且很少有机会开发方法或培训学生。

The development of stable isotope mass spectrometry has revolutionized the ability to pose and answer questions of how interactions between biological and geological processes define the Earth's environment. At this interface between biology and geology lies the rapidly evolving discipline of biogeochemistry. Stable isotope mass spectrometry allows biogeochemists to ask questions - at scales ranging from microbial to global processes - that are critical to understanding how the Earth's ecosystems function, and how the biosphere is linked to human activities. A particular value of analyzing the natural abundance of stable isotopes is that they integrate information in space and time, and they allow an analysis of the net result of complex interaction of processes. Also, these approaches free researchers from the "Heizenberg uncertainty" principle as it applies to biogeochemistry; we sample the end result of processes without affecting them, whereas most other approaches to studying the biogeochemistry of ecosystems result in alterations in functioning due to sampling. A brief look at leading scientific journals shows that stable isotope techniques increasingly contribute to our most important advances within biogeochemistry. In fact, studies employing stable isotope data are now a norm, rather than an exception, in prestigious journals such as Nature or Science. Despite this growing importance, there are a relatively limited number of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities available for biogeochemical research within the U.S. and internationally. Formal training programs for the next generation of biogeochemists are even more limited. In this proposal we seek funds to establish a mass spectrometry facility at Cornell University, "The Cornell Laboratory for Natural-Abundance Isotope Analysis." This facility will provide a state-of-the-art laboratory for isotope analysis and methods development, and will serve as a center for interaction betwe en different faculty and students at Cornell that currently work at the conceptual interface between geology and biology. With funds from other sources, we plan to develop a formal training program in isotope techniques for students and visiting scientists. This program will provide on-site expertise and training fellowships for graduate and post-graduate researchers as well as opportunities for visitors to obtain the skills to run instrumentation and develop isotope techniques for their research. The program will also provide a forum for exchanging ideas, fostering interdisciplinary research, and enhancing training in isotope instrumentation. We believe that this balance between instrumentation, research and training will make this facility uniquely important for biogeochemical research, nationally as well as internationally. The facility will feature three major instruments and appropriate laboratory facilities for preparation and analysis of samples by a wide range of isotope applications. Two Finnigan MAT stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) will provide isotopic ratio analysis of C, N, O, S and H, with capabilities to analyze liquid, particulate, and gaseous samples, and will have the appropriate interfaces for compound-specific mass spectrometry. One IRMS (delta S, Finnigan Mat) will be used to process and analyze the very large number of samples ( l 0,000/year) generated by the 14 core faculty and their graduate and post-graduate associates, and off-campus scientists who are currently using isotope techniques in their research. The second IRMS (model 252, Finnigan Mat) will be used for high precision (+ 0.005 parts per thousand) analyses (compound specific, as well as high precision gas ratio determination), for training, and for methods development. One Hewlett Packard inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) will provide rapid and efficient analyses of concentrations of up to 40 or more elements , allowing trace-element analyses at part-per-trillion levels. Such information can "fingerprint" the movement and mixing of different elements from different sources through complex flow paths within ecosystems, as well as provide detailed information on chemical environments and transformations. This ability to coincidentally measure isotope ratios together with concentrations of elements provides a powerful capability to follow the biogeochemical movements and cycling of elements and water within and between the Earth's natural ecosystems. This facility will enhance research for a spectrum of Cornell faculty and lab groups that use natural abundance stable isotope approaches to study the interface between biology and geology. Currently, these groups have to send their samples to outside labs, with relatively long turn-around times and with little opportunity for methods development or student training.