Laboratory Technician Support: Enhancing High-Precision 40Ar/39Ar Dating at the OSU Argon Geochronology Laboratory

自1969年以来，俄勒冈州立大学氩地质年代学实验室在俄勒冈州州立大学（OSU）采用了K/Ar和40 Ar/39 Ar测年方法。我们的用户群不断增长，范围从学生，博士后和合作者在俄勒冈州立大学的许多客户和合作者在整个美国和国际。在过去的十年中，我们已经大大升级了我们的设施，我们现在有两个新的ARGUS-VI多收集器质谱仪在运行。将ARGUS-VI应用于现代40 Ar/39 Ar地质年代学，为我们提供了分析精度，准确性和吞吐量的飞跃。我们的分析精度提高了10倍，材料减少了60-95%。此外，随着两台全自动ARGUS-VI仪器的上线，我们预计每年将对来自约130个不同研究或教育项目的约1，300个样本进行70，000多次分析。根据此建议，我们将聘请一位有经验的地质年代学家，拥有MS或博士学位，并具有40 Ar/39 Ar地质年代学经验。成功的候选人将扩大我们的专业知识，超越我们目前的研究领域，并将使我们的能力增加一倍，以支持我们实验室越来越多的NSF资助的地质年代学项目。最近的研究通过俄勒冈州立大学氩地质年代学实验室的ARGUS-VI仪器成为可能，包括：（i）晚更新世和全新世透长石和火山样品的高精度定年，最年轻的几千年，（ii）地球熔岩流记录中的磁反转和偏移，（iii）来自海洋地壳的低钾玄武岩，玻安岩和拉斑玄武岩，（iv）超低钾单斜辉石，（v）小于5 Ma的陆地火山中心，以提高我们对其喷发历史和相关地质灾害的理解。这五个我们最近取得进展的例子，为我们在未来十年的研究事业发展提供了令人兴奋的基础。新的40 Ar/39 Ar地质年代学技术人员将在建立这些研究途径方面发挥关键作用，同时为OSU带来显著扩大我们实验室的研究兴趣和技能？的研究组合。

The OSU Argon Geochronology Laboratory has employed K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating methods at Oregon State University (OSU) since 1969. Our user-base is ever-growing and ranges from students, post-docs and collaborators at OSU to many clients and collaborators throughout the U.S. and internationally. Over the last decade, we have substantially upgraded our facility and we now have in operation two new ARGUS-VI multi-collector mass spectrometers. Applying the ARGUS-VI to modern-day 40Ar/39Ar geochronology has provided us with a quantum leap forward in precision, accuracy and throughput of analyses. Our analytical precision is 10x improved using 60-95% less material. In addition, with two fully-automated ARGUS-VI instruments now online, we are projecting to carry out more than 70,000 analyses/year on ~1,300 samples from ~130 different research or educational projects. With this proposal, we will hire an experienced geochronologist with an MS or PhD degree and experience in 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. The successful candidate is envisioned to expand our expertise beyond our current research areas and would double our capacity for supporting the in-creasing number of NSF-funded geochronology projects in our laboratory.Recent research made possible through the ARGUS-VI instruments in the OSU Argon Geochronology Laboratory include the high-precision dating of (i) Late Pleistocene and Holocene sanidine and volcanic samples as young as a few thousand years, (ii) magnetic reversals and excursions in terrestrial lava flow records, (iii) low-potassium basalts from ocean crust, bonitites and tholeiites, (iv) ultra-low-potassium clinopyroxene, and (v) terrestrial volcanic centers younger than 5 Ma to improve our understanding their eruptive histories and related geohazards. These five examples of our recent advances, provide an exciting foundation for growing our research enterprise over the next decade. The new 40Ar/39Ar geochronology technician will play a critical role in building out those research avenues, while bringing to OSU research interests and skill sets that significantly expand our laboratory?s research portfolio.