Early Career: Acquisition of Laser Diffractometer Particle Size Analyzer for Grain Size Analyses of Pyroclastic and Sedimentary Deposits

该项目将获得激光衍射仪粒度分析仪(LDPSA)，以研究火山喷发的物理动力学。该仪器将被用于分析火山灰，作为岩浆破碎的产物，并作为对飞机、电力基础设施和人类健康的危害。该仪器还将为地球科学和物理学方面的多名教职研究人员提供服务。LDPSA将为地质科学系的几个研究生和本科生课程提供实践培训。该乐器还将通过为来访的学生提供使用该乐器的机会，向当地高中进行公共宣传努力。激光衍射仪粒度分析仪(LDPSA)允许阿拉巴马大学塔斯卡卢萨分校的研究人员探索粒度分析，作为回答研究问题的补充工具，寻求关于流域系统学和细菌群落监管的信息。初步数据表明，使用颗粒大小计算的沉积物表面积是调节细菌总生物量的重要因素。LDPSA将提供信息以评估：1)这种关系是否适用于季节和水文状况；2)沉积物表面积和粒度分布是否也在决定微生物群落结构方面发挥重要作用。该协会将为地质科学系的各种研究生和本科生课程提供研究方法的实践培训。LDPSA的提供将扩大这些课程的有效性，使学生能够直接进行分析，并在交互环境中检查结果数据。

This project will obtain a Laser Diffractometer Particle Size Analyzer (LDPSA) to study the physical dynamics of explosive volcanic eruptions. The instrument will be used to analyze volcanic ash as a product of magmatic fragmentation and as a hazard to aircraft, electrical infrastructure, and human health. The instrument will also serve multiple faculty researchers in geoscience and physics. The LDPSA will provide hands-on training for several graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Geological Sciences. The instrument will also permit public outreach efforts to local high schools by providing opportunities for visiting students to use the instrument. A Laser Diffractometer Particle Size Analyzer (LDPSA) allows researchers at University of Alabama Tuscaloosa to explore grain size analyses as a complementary tool for answering research questions seeking information about watershed systematics and the regulation of bacterial communities. Preliminary data demonstrate that sediment surface area, calculated using particle size, is an important factor regulating the total bacterial biomass. The LDPSA will provide information to evaluate: 1) whether this relationship holds across seasons and hydrological regimes; 2) whether sediment surface area and size distribution also play an important part in determining microbial community structure. The LDPSA will provide hands-on training of research methodologies for a variety of both graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Geological Sciences. The availability of an LDPSA will broaden the effectiveness of these lessons and allow students to directly perform analyses and examine the resultant data in an interactive setting.