MRI: Acquisition of a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) for research in the marine, earth and environmental sciences

美国国家科学基金会（NSF）重大研究仪器计划的这一奖项支持购买电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（ICP-MS）和激光烧蚀（LA）样品引入系统，用于海洋，地球和环境科学研究中广泛的天然材料的元素和同位素分析。NSF的这项投资将支持东北大学各学科（海洋科学，环境科学，全球变化，地质学，化学，生物学，骨骼学，公共卫生，工程学）以及其他区域机构的研究人员。 东北大学购置LA-ICP-MS后，将加强具体的研究项目，包括从珊瑚芯重建过去的海水温度和酸度、需要在其外壳或骨骼上进行化学标记的海洋生物实验、调查碳酸盐矿物中金属掺入的研究、利用耳骨化学指纹调查鱼类种群结构和连通性此外，还开展了许多其他项目，调查海洋生态系统、贝壳和骨骼生产、材料合成、药物发现和环境毒素。 初级、中级和高级教师及其博士后、研究生和本科生以及技术人员的仪器使用将为在一系列科学学科中具有不同专业知识水平的用户提供重要的教育和仪器培训机会。LA-ICP-MS的收购将是几个年轻的教师谁正在开发新的研究项目，并准备充分利用质量分辨率，灵敏度和基板的多功能性提供的职业发展特别有价值的LA-ICP-MS的教师和工作人员在东北大学建立了参与学生在各级科学研究的优秀记录，这种对学生参与的重视将与该仪器的管理和操作完全结合起来。通过该奖项获得的LA-ICP-MS系统结合了关键的技术能力，将促进东北大学及其他地区的分析研究。 这些能力包括（1）高精度和准确度;（2）宽质量范围（6个原子质量260，70个元素）;（3）基底多功能性（液体和固体），包括通过激光烧蚀以5微米空间分辨率对固体基质进行原位测量;（4）超低检测限（ppq到ppm）;和（5）通过系统的高灵敏度、磁场强度的快速调节和最小的样品制备要求提供的多种同位素（20）的快速、同时分析。LA-ICP-MS的分析多功能性是东北大学多个早期职业，中级和高级研究人员的广泛研究项目所必需的。 这些项目包括调查碳酸盐矿物学的时间趋势，开发多元素古温度计和基于B/Ca的古pH代用品，以根据珊瑚骨骼地球化学重建最近的海洋变化，在海洋酸化实验中对碳酸盐外壳和骨骼进行同位素标记，调查合成和生物碳酸盐中的微量元素分配，对鱼类耳石进行元素指纹分析，以调查种群结构和连通性，以及海洋生态学、生物矿化、骨病理学、材料合成、纳米工程、药物发现和毒理学领域的许多其他项目。这些项目都处于各自领域的最前沿，但它们的最终成功，特别是对于早期职业科学家来说，取决于是否能够随时获得所提议的仪器。 虽然没有一个质谱仪是完全适合所有的研究活动，LA-ICP-MS是一个仪器系统，是最容易适应每一个这些应用。

This award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation program supports acquisition of an inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and a laser ablation (LA) sample introduction system to be used for the elemental and isotopic analysis of a broad range of natural materials investigated in the marine, earth and environmental sciences. This investment by the NSF will support researchers working within various disciplines at Northeastern University (marine science, environmental science, global change, geology, chemistry, biology, osteology, public health, engineering), as well as at other regional institutions. Specific research projects that will be enhanced by acquisition of LA-ICP-MS at Northeastern include the reconstruction of past seawater temperature and acidity from coral cores, experiments on marine organisms that require chemical labelling of their shell or skeleton, research investigating metal incorporation in carbonate minerals, investigations of fish population structure and connectivity using chemical fingerprinting of the ear-bones ("otoliths") of fish, and numerous other projects investigating marine ecosystems, shell and skeletal production, materials synthesis, drug discovery, and environmental toxins. Instrument use by junior, mid-level, and senior faculty, and their postdoctoral associates, graduate and undergraduate students, and technical staff, will provide critical educational and instrument training opportunities for users with varying levels of expertise across a range of scientific disciplines. Acquisition of LA-ICP-MS will be particularly valuable for the career development of several young faculty who are developing novel research projects and are poised to take full advantage of the mass resolution, sensitivity, and substrate versatility afforded by LA-ICP-MS. Faculty and staff at Northeastern have established an excellent record of involving students at all levels of scientific research, and this emphasis on student involvement will be fully integrated with the management and operation of this instrumentation.The LA-ICP-MS system to be acquired through this award combines key technological capabilities that will facilitate analytical research at Northeastern and beyond. These capabilities include (1) high precision and accuracy; (2) broad mass range (6 atomic mass 260, 70 elements); (3) substrate versatility (liquids and solids), including in-situ measurement of solid substrates via laser ablation at 5 micron spatial resolution; (4) ultra-low detection limits (ppq-to-ppm); and (5) rapid, simultaneous analysis of multiple isotopes ( 20) afforded by the system's high sensitivity, rapid adjustment of magnetic field strength, and minimal sample preparation requirements. The analytical versatility of LA-ICP-MS is required for the broad range of research projects of multiple early career, mid-level, and senior researchers at Northeastern. These projects include investigating temporal trends in carbonate mineralogy, developing a multielemental paleothermometer and B/Ca-based paleo-pH proxy to reconstruct recent oceanic change from coral skeletal geochemistry, isotopic labeling of carbonate shells and skeletons in ocean acidification experiments, investigating trace element partitioning in synthetic and biogenic carbonates, elemental fingerprinting of fish otoliths to investigate population structure and connectivity, and numerous other projects in the fields of marine ecology, biomineralization, bone pathology, materials synthesis, nano-engineering, drug discovery, and toxicology. These projects are at the forefront of their respective fields, yet their ultimate success, especially for the early career scientists, hinges on ready access to the proposed instrumentation. Although no single mass spectrometer is perfectly suited for all of the described research activities, LA-ICP-MS is the one instrument system that is most readily adaptable to each of these applications.