MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) for geological, environmental, and microbiological research at Indiana University

由该MRI奖资助的多收集器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(MC-ICP-MS)使印第安纳大学的一个科学家团队能够在各种环境、生物、地质和行星背景下研究金属同位素分馏的影响和管理金属同位素分馏的化学机制。地质科学、化学和公共与环境事务学院的本科生、研究生、博士后和教职员工研究人员，以及来自附近两个主要本科生机构(印第安纳州立大学和德堡大学)的合作者将使用这种尖端仪器来促进对金属同位素如何跟踪和记录自然界中发生的化学、地质和生物过程的理解。这一认识反过来将使金属同位素地球化学能够应用于广泛的重要问题，包括与污染金属的去向和迁移、天然水和沉积物中生物必需金属的可用性、矿床的起源以及地球和其他行星上早期生命的记录有关的问题。MC-ICP-MS将设在最近完工的多学科科学二号楼，其中还包括一个新建的专用洁净室，用于实验和样品制备。该仪器与国际公认的气源质谱学设施共享空间，从而将该实验室的分析能力扩展到整个元素周期表。这些设施和部分由美国国家科学基金会资助的技术人员提供的动手培训将有助于为当前和下一代年轻科学家做准备。

The multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) funded by this MRI award enables a team of scientists at Indiana University to investigate metal isotope fractionation effects and the chemical mechanisms governing metal isotope fractionation in a variety of environmental, biological, geological, and planetary contexts. Undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty researchers in Geological Sciences, Chemistry, and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, as well as collaborators from two nearby primarily undergraduate institutions (Indiana State University and DePauw University), will use this cutting-edge instrumentation to advance understanding of how metal isotopes trace and record chemical, geological, and biological processes occurring in nature. This understanding will in turn enable application of metal isotope geochemistry to a wide range of important questions, including those related to contaminant metal fate and transport, availability of bioessential metals in natural waters and sediments, origin of ore deposits, and records of early life on Earth and other planets. The MC-ICP-MS will be located in the recently completed Multidisciplinary Science Building II, which also contains a newly constructed, dedicated clean room for experimentation and sample preparation. The instrument shares space with a well-established and internationally recognized gas-source mass spectrometry facility and thus extends the analytical capabilities of that laboratory across the entire periodic table. These facilities and hands-on training from a partially NSF-supported technician will aid in preparation of the current and next generation of young scientists.