ACQUISITION OF A HANDHELD XRF SPECTROMETER TO ENHANCE SEDIMENTARY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

这笔NSF奖金将用于购买手持式x射线荧光（HHXRF）光谱仪，以支持正在进行的科学研究和推广活动。对地球科学家来说，岩石是数据的基本来源；问题是岩石不会轻易泄露它们的秘密。为了提取重要信息，分析仪器通常是必不可少的。位于西密歇根大学校园内的密歇根地质研究与教育储存库（MGRRE）收藏了来自密歇根盆地（一个主要的碳氢化合物省）的50多万线形英尺的岩心。在过去十年中，MGRRE已成为学术界和行业专业人士使用的数据存储库，以及该地区未来地球科学家的培训基地。MGRRE的目标是通过科学调查、科学推广以及获取和应用最新技术，建立地质知识并加强公众教育。目前，关于密歇根盆地地质开发及其油气资源的许多科学问题仍然存在，由于常规数据集已经耗尽，这些问题无法得到回答。由该合同资助的HH XRF仪器将用于收集高分辨率地球化学数据集，从而进一步对密歇根盆地地质进行科学调查。该项目将影响一些相关的和正在进行的研究和教育活动，包括：(1)为MGRRE（一个区域性、多用户的地球科学研究和教育设施）提供急需的振兴和增强的分析能力；(2)通过提供获取大型地球化学数据集的能力，帮助进一步开展与沉积盆地开发有关的科学研究；(3)提供重要的地质数据，以协助研究密歇根盆地的碳氢化合物资源和储层的学术-工业合作伙伴关系；（iv）提供急需的资源，以加强现有的K-12外展工作，使区域社区了解密歇根盆地独特而多样的地质历史、当地工业和与工业相关的项目。密歇根盆地的研究主要集中在已有的数据集和常规的地下数据分析上。这些努力为更好地理解密歇根盆地的沉积演化提供了坚实的基础。密歇根地质研究与教育储存库（MGRRE）的大量岩心和与岩心相关的资源使得进行几种类型的地层和盆地动力学研究成为可能，这是了解微妙的起伏、构造和气候控制密歇根盆地演化的范围和持续时间的重要的第一步。然而，如果分析能力没有得到很大的提高，这些研究课题中的许多已被证明是难以评估的。简单地说，我们目前掌握的现有数据集已经耗尽，而由NSF资助的新分析仪器对于生成关键的地球化学数据集至关重要，有助于我们更好地了解该地区的地层和古环境演化。

This NSF award will be used to acquire a handheld X-ray fluorescence (HHXRF) spectrometer to support ongoing scientific research and outreach activities. For geoscientists, rocks represent fundamental sources of data; the problem is that rocks don't give up their secrets easily. To extract important information, analytical instrumentation is often essential. Over a half million linear feet of rock core from the Michigan Basin, a major hydrocarbon province, is housed and curated at the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE) on the campus of Western Michigan University. In the past decade, MGRRE has become a data repository used by academics and industry professionals, as well as a training ground for future geoscientists across the region. The goal of MGRRE is to build geologic knowledge and enhance public education through scientific investigations, scientific outreach, and the acquisition and application of the latest advances in technology. At present, numerous scientific questions concerning the geologic development of the Michigan Basin and its hydrocarbon resources persist and cannot be answered because conventional datasets have been exhausted. The HH XRF instrumentation funded by this award will be used to collect high-resolution geochemical datasets from which to further scientific investigations of Michigan Basin geology. This project will impact a number of related, and ongoing research and educational activities including: (i) providing a much needed revitalization and increased analytical capability to MGRRE, a regional, multi-user geoscience research and education facility, (ii) helping further scientific studies pertaining to the development of sedimentary basins by providing the capability to acquire large geochemical datasets, (iii) providing important geologic data to assist in joint academia-industry partnerships that investigate the hydrocarbon resources and reservoirs of the Michigan Basin, and (iv) delivering much needed resources to enhance existing K-12 outreach efforts to expose the regional community to the unique and diverse geologic history of the Michigan Basin, local industry, and industry-related projects.Research in the Michigan Basin has focused primarily on pre-existing datasets and conventional subsurface data analysis. These efforts have provided a solid foundation toward a better understanding of the sedimentary evolution of the Michigan Basin. The multitude of cores and core-related resources available at the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE) have made it possible to conduct several types of stratigraphic and basin dynamics studies, which represent an important first step toward understanding the scope and duration of the subtle eustatic, tectonic and climatic controls on the evolution of the Michigan Basin. However, many of these research topics have proven difficult to assess without much-improved analytical capabilities. Simply said, the existing datasets currently at our disposal have been exhausted and the new analytical instrumentation supported by this NSF award will be critical for generating critical geochemical datasets in our aim to better understand the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental evolution of the region.