Acquisition of a Laser Ablation-MC-ICPMS for Development of Light Element Isotopes for Applications in the Geological Sciences

在这项研究中，加州大学洛杉矶分校的研究人员将进一步开发激光烧蚀岩石材料取样的新方法，用于多接收器电感耦合等离子体源质谱（MC-ICPMS）分析。 这项新技术将允许研究人员使用镁，硅和铁等重要和丰富的岩石形成元素的同位素作为一种手段，以发现影响岩石的物理和化学过程。 这些环境包括海底、小行星内部和火山的深源。 结果将用于阐明与地球形成和随后演变有关的各种现象的细节。 使用新技术将解决的问题包括：海底火山加热的流水如何影响地壳的化学性质;早期太阳系中气体和尘埃如何形成岩石，以及这一过程如何产生岩石行星和含有大量水的卫星，包括地球;导致地球上活火山活动的事件的时间尺度;以及如何利用同位素来区分岩石和大气中的生物和非生物化学过程。

EAR-0132629YoungIn this study, researchers at UCLA will develop further the new method of laser ablation sampling of rock materials for analysis by multiple collector inductively coupled plasma-source mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS). The new technology will permit researchers to use the isotopes of important and abundant rock-forming elements like magnesium, silicon, and iron as a means to discover the physical and chemical processes that affected rocks from a spectrum of environments. These environments include the ocean floor, the insides of asteroids, and the deep sources of volcanoes. Results will be used to elucidate details about a variety of phenomena related to the formation and subsequent evolution of the Earth. Questions that will be addressed using the new technique include: how flowing water heated from undersea volcanoes affects the chemistry of Earth's crust; how rocks formed from gas and dust in the early solar system and how this process gave rise to rocky planets and satellites with large amounts of water, including Earth; the timescales of events leading to active volcanism on Earth; and the ways in which isotopes can be used to distinguish biological from non-biological chemical processes in rocks and in the atmosphere.