Acquisition of a laser extraction system for (U-Th)/He chronometry

该拨款为(U-Th)/He计时激光提取系统的采购提供部分支持。激光加热和气体提取晶体用于(U-Th)/He热测时和地球测时提供了显着降低的He空白，允许非常小的等分（单晶）和非常年轻的样品进行定年，显着增加样品吞吐量，并允许对钛矿，锆石和石榴石等难熔矿物进行定年。激光提取系统将被纳入耶鲁大学的He质谱线和(U-Th)/He测年实验室，该实验室由地质和地球物理系新的地球化学实验室经理职位和用于U-Th测定的新的HR-ICP-MS提供支持。该实验室将专注于新的(U-Th)/He方法和应用的实验开发，以及常规提供低温冷却年龄，以确定构造和地貌过程的时间和速率，并确定火山岩的年代。激光提取系统将是该实验室的关键组成部分，因为它能够为实验和方法学研究提供相对快速、低空白、从各种矿物中提取He的能力，以及为合作研究项目处理大量常规样品的能力（主要是用于构造研究的磷灰石、钛矿和锆石He年龄）

0111875ReinersThis grant provides partial support for acquisition of a laser extraction system for (U-Th)/He chronometry. Laser heating and gas extraction from crystals for (U-Th)/He thermochronometry and geochronometry provides significantly lower He blanks, allows very small aliquots (single crystals) and very young samples to be dated, dramatically increases sample throughput, and allows dating of refractory minerals such as titanite, zircon, and garnet. The laser extraction system will be incorporated into a He mass spectrometry line and (U-Th)/He dating lab at Yale University, which is supported by a new geochemistry lab manager position in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and a new HR-ICP-MS for U-Th determinations. The lab will focus on both experimental development of new (U-Th)/He approaches and applications, as well as routinely providing low-temperature cooling ages for establishing the timing and rates of tectonic and geomorphologic processes and dating of volcanic rocks. The laser extraction system will be a critical component of this lab, both because of its ability to provide relatively rapid, low-blank, He extraction from a wide variety of minerals for experimental and methodological studies, as well as its ability to process large numbers of routine samples for collaborative research projects (primarily apatite, titanite, and zircon He ages for tectonic studies).***