Acquisition of Acquisition of laser ablation and quadrupole ICP-MS instrumentation for study of high-resolution records in Earth materials at Oregon State University

该合同将允许获得新的最先进的准分子激光消融(LA)系统和四极感应耦合等离子体质谱仪(ICP-MS)，主要用于地球和海洋科学及相关学科的研究。新仪器将支持俄勒冈州立大学(OSU)在复杂自然材料研究方面的研究优势，并将被俄勒冈州立大学的科学家、博士后学者和来自整个太平洋西北地区和其他地方的学生广泛使用。W.M.凯克等离子体光谱分析实验室是一家最先进的设施，用于将基于等离子体的化学和同位素分析技术应用于地球、海洋和其他科学，位于俄勒冈州海洋和大气科学学院(COAS)。该设施支持由NSF和其他机构资助的一系列科学。新仪器的获得将使我们能够在三个关键方面改进我们的设施：1.我们寻求显著提升我们使用激光烧蚀和流动溶解技术在复杂的自然材料中进行现场高分辨率高精度化学和同位素分析的能力，因为很明显，这些领域是地球和海洋科学领域未来的重要需求。2.我们希望为获得激光消融、穿透和其他基于电感耦合等离子体质谱仪的技术提供预期的未来增长。目前，这些新的样品导入技术的应用受到设备可用性和性能的限制。3.我们希望确保这个设施的未来。我们现有的激光消融和四极ICPMS仪器正在老化，不再受到供应商的支持，我们正在经历越来越长的停机时间和不断下降的性能，这严重限制了潜在的应用。考虑到该设施的高吞吐量，大量依赖仪器的工人，以及该实验室支持的NSF和其他外部资金，获得所需的仪器对该设施的长期未来至关重要。如果不能升级和扩展这些前线仪器的能力，最终将削弱我们在校园和世界各地开展的研究合作，并将导致失去研究、培训和教育机会。凯克设施支持的研究涵盖广泛的学科，包括古气候和海洋学研究、火山岩和矿床的岩石学研究、鱼类迁徙研究和考古工作。这项研究的大部分都有显著的社会效益。目前，我们仅在COAS和地球科学系就有20多名教职员工，他们至少在这些设施中从事部分科学工作，最近总共有140多名用户使用这种设备，其中包括许多来自太平洋西北地区的用户。为学生提供最先进的仪器对于COAS和俄勒冈州立大学的教育使命至关重要。数十名研究生和本科生在我们的实验室接触到了这些技术，无论是在研究项目中还是在各种课程中。他们以这种方式接受的培训是学习经验的重要组成部分，往往是他们毕业后进入研究生院或就业的主要因素。将该设施保持在最先进的水平是我们计划长期目标的一个关键方面。我们还计划扩大向更广泛的公众传播科学的外展活动。在凯克合作实验室的约140名有记录的用户中，38名是女性，5名是西班牙裔，4名是亚洲/太平洋岛民，1名是美洲原住民。在40篇涉及使用这些工具的毕业论文中，18篇(近一半)是由代表性不足的群体或妇女撰写的。这些学生中的大多数都在这个领域从事着积极的职业生涯。我们希望在这一支持我们共享实验室多样性的强劲记录的基础上再接再厉。

This award will permit the acquisition of a new state-of-the-art Excimer laser ablation (LA) system and quadrupole inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for research, primarily in the Earth and Ocean Sciences and related disciplines. The new instrumentation will support research strengths in the study of complex natural materials at Oregon State University (OSU), and will be used extensively by scientists, postdoctoral scholars and students from OSU, from throughout the Pacific Northwest region, and elsewhere. The W.M. Keck Laboratory For Plasma Spectrometry is a state-of-the-art facility for application of plasma-based chemical and isotopic analysis techniques to the Earth, Ocean and other sciences located in the College of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) at Oregon State. The facility supports a broad array of science funded through NSF and other agencies.Acquisition of new instrumentation will allow us to improve our facility in three critical ways:1. We seek to significantly upgrade our ability to make in-situ high-resolution high-precision chemical and isotopic analyses in complex natural materials using laser ablation and flow-through dissolution techniques, as it is clear that these are areas of important future need within the Earth and Ocean Sciences. 2. We wish to provide for anticipated future increases for access to laser ablation, flow-through and other ICP-MS based techniques. At present our applications of these novel sample introduction techniques are limited by equipment availability and performance. 3. We wish to secure the future of this facility. Our existing laser ablation and quadrupole ICP-MS instrumentation is aging, are no longer supported by their vendors, and we are experiencing increasing downtime and decreasing performance that significantly restricts potential applications. Given the high throughput of the facility, the large number of workers dependent on the instrumentation, and the amount of NSF and other external funding this laboratory underpins, the acquisition of the requested instrumentation is crucial to the long-term future of the facility. Failure to upgrade and extend the capabilities of these frontline instruments would eventually weaken the research collaborations that we have developed across campus and throughout the world, and would result in a loss of research, training and educational opportunities.The research supported by the Keck facility covers a wide range of disciplines, including paleoclimate and oceanographic studies, petrologic studies of volcanic rocks and ore deposits, research on fish migration and archeological work. Much of this research has significant societal benefit. Currently we have over 20 faculty members in COAS and the Department of Geosciences alone who do at least part of their science in these facilities, and collectively over 140 recent users of this equipment, including many from the Pacific Northwest region. Access to state-of-the-art instrumentation for students is critical to the education mission of COAS and Oregon State University. Dozens of graduate and undergraduate students have been exposed to these technologies in our laboratories, both for research projects and through various courses. The training they receive in this way forms an important part of the learning experience and is often a major factor in them gaining entrance to graduate school or employment after their studies. Maintaining the facility at state-of-the-art level is a critical aspect of the long-range goals of our program. We also plan to expand outreach activities that communicate science to the broader public. Of the ~140 documented users of the Keck Collaboratory, 38 are women, five are Hispanic, four are Asian/Pacific Islander, and one is Native American. Of the 40 graduate theses that involved use of these instruments, 18 (nearly half) were by under-represented groups or women. Most of these students have gone on to active careers in the field. We expect to build on this strong track record of supporting diversity in our shared laboratories.