Collaborative Research: Development of Tunable Infrared Laser Direct Absorption Spectroscopy (TILDAS) for clumped isotope analysis of CO2

该项目使亚利桑那大学、华盛顿大学和私营部门合作伙伴Aerodyne Research能够开发下一代激光光谱分析系统，以测量碳和氧同位素的组合，这些同位素被称为“块状同位素”。这项新技术将使研究人员能够以更低的成本、更小的样本量和比目前通过质谱仪可能获得的更多的数量来研究地球过去的气候。新仪器将有可能大幅增加过去地球温度的替代测量数量，因为它消除了对氧同位素进行单独估计的需要。这样的系统有望很快被世界各地的实验室采用，应用于地质、海洋、生物和大气样本。该项目将亚利桑那大学和华盛顿大学与Aerodyne Research联系起来，提高Aerodyne的可调谐红外激光直接吸收光谱(Tildas)系统的精度，以进行二氧化碳的块状同位素测量，与目前使用质谱学的技术相竞争。关键的测量是二氧化碳的不同同位素组合，如碳13、氧18和氧16。分析小30到80倍的样品的能力意味着可以获得更高的空间分辨率，以便研究更好的时间分辨率，如季节性带状贝壳所提供的分辨率。其他研究机会包括：利用安第斯山脉和美国西北部的层状土壤碳酸盐研究土壤过程和全新世古气候的能力；始新世早期气候最佳时期和白垩纪期间的季节性和碳循环；湖泊和土壤碳酸盐形成的温室效应；流体-断层相互作用的详细历史、交错关系和保存在方解石脉中的多种流体，这些流体来自古断裂和活动断裂带及热液系统。

This project is enabling the University of Arizona, University of Washington, and private sector partner Aerodyne Research to develop a next-generation laser spectroscopy system to measure combinations of carbon and oxygen isotopes that are known as "clumped isotopes." The new technology will enable researchers to study the earth's past climate at lower cost, with smaller sample sizes, and in greater numbers than is currently possible by mass spectrometry. The new instrument will make possible a large increase in the number of proxy measurements of past earth temperatures because it eliminates the need for separate estimates of oxygen isotopes. Such a system is expected to be adopted quickly by laboratories around the world for application to geologic, oceanographic, biologic, and atmospheric samples. This project links the University of Arizona and the University of Washington with Aerodyne Research in improving the precision of Aerodyne's Tunable Infrared Laser Direct Absorption Spectroscopy (TILDAS) system to make clumped isotope measurements of carbon dioxide that are competitive with current techniques using mass spectrometry. The key measurement is of the different isotopic combinations of carbon dioxide, such as carbon 13, oxygen 18, and oxygen 16. The ability to analyze samples that are 30 to 80 times smaller means that higher spatial resolution can be obtained to allow research into better time resolution such as that afforded by seasonally-banded shells. Other research opportunities include the ability to study soil processes and Holocene paleoclimate using layered soil carbonates from the Andes and northwestern US; seasonality and carbon cycle during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum and Cretaceous greenhouse from lake and soil carbonates; and the detailed history of fluid-fault interactions, cross cutting relationships and multiple fluids preserved in calcite veins from paleo and active fault zones and hydrothermal systems.