Phase II Technician Support for Noble Gas Geochemistry

根据EAR仪器和设施项目第二阶段技术支持指导方针，该合同将为伍兹霍尔海洋研究所（WHOI）同位素地球化学设施的Dempsey Lott提供部分支持。Lott将在m.d. Kurz博士的监督下，负责与WHOI惰性气体和热电离质谱仪相关的维护、培训和技术支持。该实验室专门从事海水、地下水和各种岩石和矿物中的氦和氖同位素测量，用于各种科学项目。正在进行的项目包括夏威夷科学钻探项目（莫纳克亚火山）的地幔稀有气体测量和来自不同地点（海洋岛屿和洋脊）的海底熔岩流，加拉帕戈斯群岛表面熔岩流的氦-3表面暴露年代测定，以及各种冰川沉积物（美国西部，巴塔哥尼亚，南极洲）的表面暴露年代测定。提出的研究的一个重要目标是扩大对重惰性气体的测量能力，这将涉及一些技术的发展。具体来说，我们将利用一种新设计的不锈钢低温捕集器，其性能明显优于传统的（木炭）捕集器，并将应用于稀有气体地球化学的许多方面。洛特的技术专长将有助于使WHOI的许多研究人员以及更广泛的美国地球科学界获得惰性气体测量能力。

EAR-0132265KurzThis award will provide partial support for Dempsey Lott in the Isotope Geochemistry Facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), under the guidelines for Phase II technician support in the EAR Instrumentation and Facilities Program. Lott will have responsibility for maintenance, training, and technical support associated with the WHOI noble gas and thermal ionization mass spectrometers, under the supervision of Dr. M. D. Kurz. The laboratory has specialized in helium and neon isotopic measurements in seawater, groundwater, and a variety of rocks and minerals, for a diverse set of scientific programs. Active projects include mantle noble gas measurements from the Hawaiian Scientific Drilling Project (Mauna Kea volcano) and submarine lava flows from various locations (ocean islands and ocean ridges), helium-3 surface exposure dating from surficial Galapagos lava flows, and surface exposure dating from various glacial deposits (Western USA, Patagonia, Antarctica). An important goal of the proposed research is to expand measurement capabilities to the heavy noble gases, which will involve some technique developement. Specifically we will utilize a newly designed stainless steel cryogenic trap that performs significantly better than conventional (charcoal) traps, and will have applications to many aspects of noble gas geochemistry. The technical expertise of Lott will help make the noble gas measurement capability accessible to many researchers at WHOI and also the broader U.S. earth science community.