Technician Support: Phase I Technician Support for AIRIE Program TIMS Laboratory

科罗拉多州立大学（CSU）的AIRIE项目（AIRIE）最近获得了一项新的多集热器热电离质谱仪（MC-TIMS）的资助。该奖项提供了为期三年的支持，其中80%来自NSF， 20%来自CSU，用于专门安装，校准和测试新型MC-TIMS的研究技术人员，并随后协助进行方法创新，以充分利用大大提高的分析能力。技术人员的支持将通过增加学生的参与、增加Front Range合作和扩大全球合作伙伴关系来支持该计划的发展。新的研究机会将建立在AIRIE与来自工业界、政府和学术界的250多名科学家在跨越五大洲的项目上的9年合作历史的基础上。迄今为止，该计划的重点是开发、测试和应用铼锇（Re-Os）辉钼矿地球时计，并将该技术转让给矿产工业，用于勘探。改进的仪器和技术支持拓宽了基础和应用研究的机会，包括：(1)利用辉钼矿地时计进行构造重建和基本地球历史，(2)探索其他矿石矿物中的Re-Os系统，包括钨酸盐、金和其他硫化物的直接定年的可能性。(3)研究下地壳Re、Os分布及下地壳岩石熔融同化过程中Re、Os的表现，以更好地了解大陆地壳演化；(4)进一步发展碳质页岩Re、Os定年方法，为石油和矿产工业的年龄控制提供依据；(5)在碳质页岩中应用Re-Os分系统来定义海水的Os同位素化学随地质时间的变化，以及对风化过程变化和大气氧含量上升的影响；(6)开发和应用新的同位素系统，特别是钼-钌（Mo-Ru），以理解双β衰变及其对物理基本问题的影响。

EAR-0451693SteinThe AIRIE Program (AIRIE), Colorado State University (CSU), recently acquired funding for a new Multi-Collector Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (MC-TIMS). This award provides three years of support, 80% from NSF and 20% from CSU, for a research technician dedicated to installation, calibration, and testing of the new MC-TIMS, and subsequently assisting with methodological innovations to take advantage of greatly improved analytical capabilities. Technician support will underpin growth of the Program through increased student involvement, increased Front Range collaborations, and expansion of global partnerships. New research opportunities will build on AIRIE's nine-year history of collaborations with over 250 scientists from industry, government and academia, on projects spanning five continents. To date, the focus of the Program has been on development, testing, and application of the rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) molybdenite geochronometer, with transfer of this technology to the mineral industry for application in exploration. Improved instrumentation and technical support broaden the array of both fundamental and applied research opportunities, including (1) utilization of the molybdenite geochronometer for tectonic reconstructions and fundamental earth history, (2) exploration of Re-Os systematics in other ore minerals, including the possibility of direct dating of tungstates, gold, and other sulfides, (3) investigation of Re and Os distribution in the lower crust and the behavior of Re and Os during melting and assimilation of lower crustal rocks to better understand the evolution of continental crust, (4) further development of methods for Re-Os dating of carbonaceous shales, providing age control with applications for both the petroleum and mineral industry, (5) application of Re-Os systematics in carbonaceous shales to define variations in Os isotope chemistry of seawater through geologic time, with implications for changes in weathering processes and the rise of atmospheric oxygen, (6) development and application of new isotopic systems, especially molybdenum-ruthenium (Mo-Ru) for understanding double-beta decay and its implications for fundamental problems in physics.