Acquisition of a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer for Investigations in High-precision Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry

这笔赠款将用于在爱达荷州博伊西州立大学地球科学系新的同位素地球化学实验室安装一台最先进的热电离质谱仪。 该仪器将用于高精度分析地质和环境样本中的同位素比率，特别侧重于确定地质记录中火山灰的精确年龄，而这些年龄又可用于校准整个地球历史中构造、气候和生物变化的速率。 同位素比率分析还将用于各种不同的应用，如火山源区的指纹、水文路径的追踪、古人类居住地和贸易路线的研究以及记录过去50万年气候变化的土壤碳酸盐的年代测定。 这些科学驱动因素是新设施将在新博士学位开发中发挥关键作用的基础。在博伊西州立大学攻读地球科学。 这一新设施还将在区域、国家和国际地球科学领域发挥重要作用。 作为西北内陆地区唯一的此类实验室，该设施将成为下一代地球科学家的重要区域培训中心，也是爱达荷州国家实验室科学家的天然合作伙伴。 在国家舞台上，该实验室将成为EARTHTIME网络的一个节点，这是一项对地球历史进行高精度地质年代学校准的国家倡议，也是GeoSystems关于深时古气候的倡议的贡献者，该倡议旨在通过了解过去5亿年来地球气候系统的记录来了解未来的气候变化。

EAR-0521221SchmitzThis grant will be used to install a state-of-the-art thermal ionization mass spectrometer in the new isotope geochemistry laboratory in the Department of Geosciences at Boise State University, Idaho. This instrument will be used for the high-precision analysis of isotope ratios in geological and environmental samples, with a particularly emphasis on determining the precise ages of volcanic ashes in the geologic record, which in turn are used to calibrate the rates of tectonic, climatic and biological change throughout Earth history. Isotope ratio analysis will also be applied to such diverse applications as the fingerprinting of volcanic source regions, the tracing of hydrologic pathways, the study of ancient human habitation sites and trade routes, and dating of soil carbonates recording the last half million years of climate change. Such science drivers underlie the key role the new facility will play in the development of a new Ph.D. in Geosciences at Boise State University. This new facility will also play major roles in the regional, national and international spheres of geoscience. As the only such laboratory in the Interior Northwest, the facility will be an important regional center of training for the next generation of geoscientists, and a natural partner to scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory. On the national stage, the laboratory will be a node in the EARTHTIME Network, a national initiative in high-precision geochronological calibration of Earth History, and a contributor to the GeoSystems initiative on Deep Time Paleoclimate, which seeks to understand future climate change by understanding the record of the Earth climate system over the past 500 million years.