Acquisition of a single-collector, magnetic-sector ICP-MS for research in U-series and (U-Th)/He chronometry at the Berkeley Geochronology Center

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。 这笔资金将用于为伯克利地质年代学中心（BGC）购买一台单收集器、磁扇区、电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（ICP-MS）。该仪器将提供更强的分析能力，并提高铀系和（U-Th）/He放射性同位素测年方面的研究和培训方案的能力。地球科学中的许多基本问题需要对自然事件和过程进行精确和准确的放射性同位素测年。例如，铀系和（U-Th）/He测年是BGC正在进行的NSF支持的研究的核心：（1）地震历史和活动断层的滑动速率，（2）过去的气候转变，（3）接触前太平洋文化的发展和随后的环境影响，（4）景观演变，以及（5）化学风化过程。新的ICP-MS将补充BGC在1997年获得的热电离质谱仪，为铀系列分析提供更高的灵敏度和更大的通量，并为BGC测量小样本的238 U，232 Th和146 Sm提供新的能力。最近成立了稀有气体热年代学实验室。通过BGC科学家和地球科学及相关领域的其他研究人员之间的跨学科合作，ICP-MS将有助于确定地质事件的时间和影响地球的自然过程的速率。该研究将有助于澄清与社会相关的重要主题和广泛的公众利益。ICP-MS将非常容易获得研究生和博士后，从而在为早期职业科学家提供创新约会技术的最先进培训方面发挥重要作用。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Funds will be used to acquire a single-collector, magnetic-sector, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC). The instrument will provide enhanced analytical capabilities and increased capacity for research and training programs in uranium-series and (U-Th)/He radio-isotopic dating. Many fundamental questions in the Earth sciences require precise and accurate radio-isotopic dating of natural events and processes. For example, uranium-series and (U-Th)/He dating are at the core of ongoing NSF-supported research at BGC in: (1) seismic histories and slip rates of active faults, (2) past climate transitions, (3) development of pre-contact Pacific cultures and ensuing environmental effects, (4) landscape evolution, and (5) chemical weathering processes. The new ICP-MS will supplement a thermal ionization mass spectrometer acquired by BGC in 1997 to provide higher sensitivity and greater throughput for uranium-series analyses and new capabilities for measuring small samples of 238U, 232Th, and 146Sm for BGC?s recently established Noble Gas Thermochronology Lab. Through interdisciplinary collaborations between BGC scientists and other researchers in the Earth sciences and related fields, the ICP-MS will help to establish the timing of geologic events and the rates of natural processes that have affected Earth?s surface, its natural resources, hazards, and life upon it. This research will help clarify topics of vital societal relevance and widespread public interest. The ICP-MS will be highly accessible to graduate students and post-docs, thereby playing an essential role in providing state-of-the-art training in innovative dating techniques to early-career scientists.