MRI: Acquisition of an Ion Chromatograph and X-ray Diffractometer to Support Watershed Modeling, Seneca Lake, New York

0116078这笔赠款通过重大研究仪器(MRI)计划提供全面支持，用于购买自动双柱离子色谱仪(IC)和X射线衍射仪(XRD)，以调查纽约州北部最大的手指湖Seneca湖的水和沉积物的地球化学。这些新仪器将补充现有的仪器，以及霍巴特和威廉·史密斯的65英尺长的研究船HWS探索者号，以在学院建立研究湖泊及其分水岭之间相互作用所需的科学资源。具体地说，离子色谱仪将提高湖泊和支流水域化学分析的准确度、精密度和数量。X射线衍射仪将识别和描述湖泊和支流中细粒沉积物的矿物学特征。这两个仪器将支持一个持续的项目，以开发水、溶解物质和沉积物进出Seneca湖的定量模型。这些模型立即应用于当前几个环境问题，包括外来斑马贻贝对湖泊的影响，湖泊及其支流中除草剂阿特拉津和硝酸盐浓度的上升，以及湖泊中高浓度的氯。这些模型还可能有助于理解冰川作用后的气候变化，以及湖泊沉积物中记录的气候变化。Seneca湖流域模型及其所依据的数据也将成为检测和评估该湖未来水质变化的重要基线。这些仪器的影响将超越它们产生的数据和它们将支持的地球化学模型。对Seneca湖水域和沉积物的大部分调查将由本科生与地球科学教师合作完成。这些学生有机会利用现代仪器进行实践科学研究，这对他们作为下一代地球科学研究人员、环境管理人员和环境政策制定者的发展至关重要。

0116078HalfmanThis grant, made through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, provides full support to acquire an automated, dual column ion chromatograph (IC), and an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) to investigate the geochemistry of the waters and sediments of Seneca Lake, the largest of upstate New York's Finger Lakes. These new instruments will complement existing instrumentation and Hobart and William Smith's 65-foot research vessel, the HWS EXPLORER, to establish at the Colleges the scientific resources needed for studying the interactions between the lake and its watershed. Specifically, the ion chromatograph will increase the accuracy, precision, and number of chemical analyses of both lake and tributary stream waters. The X-ray diffractometer will identify and characterize the mineralogy of fine-grained sediments, both in the lake and in tributary streams. Both instruments will support a continuing project to develop quantitative models of the movement of water, dissolved materials and sediment into and out of Seneca Lake. Such models have immediate applications to several current environmental concerns including the impact of exotic zebra mussels on the lake, rising concentrations of the herbicide atrazine and nitrates in the lake and its tributaries, and high concentrations of chloride in the lake. These models may also help to understand changes in climate that followed glaciation and that are recorded within the lake's sediments. Seneca Lake watershed models and the data upon which they rest will also serve as an important base line for detecting and evaluating future water quality changes in the lake. The impact of these instruments will extend beyond the data they produce and the geochemical models they will support. Much of the investigation of Seneca Lake's waters and sediments will be done by undergraduate students working collaboratively with geoscience faculty. The opportunity for these students to engage in hands-on scientific research with modern instrumentation is critical to their development as the next generation of geoscience researchers, environmental managers and environmental policy makers.***