Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometers for Environmental Research

该合同是为了获得一台同位素比质谱仪，该质谱仪具有扩展平面光学和几个外围设备，用于自动化、小样本和化合物特定分析。这些仪器将成为该大学环境研究稳定同位素比率设施（SIRFER）的一部分。氢、碳、氮、氧和硫的稳定同位素丰度的自然变化被用于研究地球表面和地表附近的生物、生态、水文和地球化学问题；这些分析也适用于从人类学到法医学的人类相关研究。目前的研究项目包括：确定动物组织中的同位素周转时间，从而了解野生动物的代谢路线和饮食历史；确定身份不明的人类起源的法医应用；通过鲸鱼的饮食输入重建它们的迁徙路线；毒素代谢；生态系统内的碳循环；林分水平植物的胁迫响应估计通过树木年轮重建气候；确定与河流系统蒸发损失有关的降水投入；河流氮输入源及氮转化的测定在城市环境中，了解能源生产中使用的化石燃料与生物活动中氮沉积和二氧化碳源的分配。除了有价值的生态研究外，这台质谱仪还将用于本科生的研究和教育，包括“生态系统中的稳定同位素”这门课程。此外，还为来自其他大学的学生和教师开设了稳定同位素生态学年度短期课程。在这些课程中受过训练的许多学生已经在其他大学建立了自己的稳定同位素实验室。

This award is for the acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer with extended plane optics and several peripherals for automated, small sample, and compound-specific analyses. These instruments will become part of the university's Stable Isotope Ratio Facility for Environmental Research (SIRFER). Natural variations in the stable isotope abundances of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur are used to study biological, ecological, hydrological, and geochemical problems at and near the Earth's surface; these analyses are applied as well to human-related research from anthropology through forensic sciences. Current research projects include: Determination of isotope turnover times in animal tissues, leading to understanding metabolic routing and dietary histories of wildlife; Forensics applications determining the origins of unidentified humans; Reconstructing the migration routes of whales through their dietary inputs; Metabolism of toxins; Cycling of carbon within ecosystems; Estimates of stress responses in plants at the stand level; Reconstructing climate through tree rings; Determination of precipitation inputs relative to evaporative losses in river systems; Determination of nitrogen input sources and nitrogen transformation in rivers; and, in urban environments, Understanding both nitrogen deposition and partitioning of carbon dioxide sources from fossil fuels used in energy production versus biogenic activities. In addition to valuable ecological research, this mass spectrometer will be used for undergraduate research and education, including the course, "Stable Isotopes in Ecosystems. There is also an annual short course in Stable Isotope Ecology for students and faculty from other universities. Many of the students trained in these courses have gone on to establish their own stable isotope laboratories at other universities.