MRI: Acquisition of equipment for an integrated gas analysis and labeling radiocarbon system with a focus on Arctic carbon and geochronology

该奖项支持在北方亚利桑那大学的放射性碳系统的收购。该系统将用于研究碳循环的现代变化和过去的气候变化。放射性碳（碳-14或14 C）是碳的同位素，有六个质子和电子，还有两个额外的中子。放射性碳作为一个时钟，由于不断发生的放射性衰变的结果，额外的中子。放射性碳测年是最广泛使用的科学工具，用于确定事件的时间以及地球，环境和人类过程的变化率，可追溯到数万年前。这笔赠款支持购买仪器，以完成气体和标记放射性碳系统，这将使研究人员能够获得对北极环境问题的新见解。这些仪器将与教育活动相结合，促进培训科学家将放射性碳应用于生态学和地球系统科学。认识到变革性研究的巨大潜力，北方亚利桑那大学（NAU）最近与IonPlus签订合同，购买小型加速器质谱仪（小型碳定年系统; MICADAS）。该奖项资助了气体和标记放射性碳系统的收购，包括气体离子源（GIS），这是快速分析二氧化碳气体形式的非常小的样品所需的，以及自动石墨设备（AGE），它结合了样品燃烧，纯化和石墨化步骤，将用于从低水平标记实验中分离样品，并完成综合分析设施。拟议的仪器将把放射性碳的新的和发展中的应用与地球和环境科学的重大挑战联系起来，特别关注北极。放射性碳为追踪永久冻土碳库的变化、了解北极气候系统的反馈以及了解过去的气候变化提供了独特而敏感的指纹。测量放射性碳的技术突破和NAU的科学专业知识将共同促进对这些问题的新见解。NAU PI将与一系列合作者一起探索两个主要主题，即了解（1）北极气候过去的变化，以及（2）可能反馈到未来气候的北极碳的现代变化。除了这个以北极为重点的主题外，仪器还将促进广泛科学领域的持续研究，包括土壤碳动力学，植物和微生物生态学，火灾历史，地质灾害，考古学，历史生态学和保护古生物学。这一仪器的购置将与教育和知识转让活动相结合，以促进对科学家进行放射性碳在生态学和地球系统科学中的应用方面的培训。技术进步，如综合放射性碳系统所代表的，可以帮助推广放射性碳的使用，增加应用的种类和制备样品的选择，并降低成本。这需要扩大受过教育的用户群，这将通过一个短期课程产生，生态学和地球系统科学中的放射性碳，向全国研究生和博士后研究人员开放。此外，NAU有一个强有力的承诺，服务亚利桑那州农村，包括美洲原住民和西班牙裔人口。现有的计划将被用来吸引这些学生，提供实验室图尔斯，演示，并在实验室工作的机会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This award supports the acquisition of a radiocarbon system at Northern Arizona University. This system will be used to study modern changes in the carbon cycle and past changes in climate. Radiocarbon (Carbon-14 or 14C) is an isotope of carbon, with six protons and electrons, with two additional neutrons. Radiocarbon acts as a clock due to the constant radioactive decay that occurs as a result of the extra neutrons. Radiocarbon dating is the most widely used scientific tool for determining the timing of events and the rates of changes of Earth, environment and human processes extending back tens of thousands of years. This grant supports purchase of instruments to complete a gas and labeling radiocarbon system that will allow the investigators to gain novel insights into environmental issues in the Arctic. These instruments will be integrated with educational activities that promote training scientists in the application of radiocarbon to ecology and Earth system science.Recognizing the outstanding potential for transformative research, Northern Arizona University (NAU) recently contracted IonPlus for the purchase of a mini accelerator mass spectrometer (Mini Carbon Dating System; MICADAS). This award funds the acquisition of a gas and labeling radiocarbon system including a gas ion source (GIS), which is needed for rapid analysis of very small samples in CO2 gas form, and automated graphite equipment (AGE), which combines sample combustion, purification, and graphitization steps and will be used to isolate samples from low-level labeling experiments and complete an integrated analytical facility. The proposed instrumentation will link novel and developmental applications of radiocarbon to grand challenges in Earth and environmental sciences, with a particular focus on the Arctic. Radiocarbon provides a unique and sensitive fingerprint for tracking changes in the permafrost carbon pool, for understanding feedbacks in the Arctic climate system, and for understanding past climate change. Technological breakthroughs for measuring radiocarbon and the scientific expertise at NAU together are poised to catalyze novel insight into these issues. The NAU PIs, along with a broad suite of collaborators, will explore two major themes of understanding (1) past changes in Arctic climate, and (2) modern changes in Arctic carbon that may feedback to future climate. In addition to this Arctic-focused theme, the instrumentation will facilitate ongoing research across a broad range of sciences including soil carbon dynamics, plant and microbial ecology, fire history, geologic hazards, archaeology, historical ecology and conservation paleobiology. This instrument acquisition will be integrated with educational and knowledge transfer activities that promote training scientists in the application of radiocarbon to ecology and Earth system science. Technological advances such as represented by the integrated radiocarbon system in this grant could help spread the use of radiocarbon, with increases in the variety of applications and in options for preparing samples, and decreases in cost. This requires an expanding pool of educated users, which will be generated by a short course, Radiocarbon in Ecology and Earth System Science, open to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers nationwide. In addition, NAU has a strong commitment to serving rural Arizona, including Native American and Hispanic populations. Existing programs will be leveraged to engage these students, providing lab tours, demonstrations, and opportunities to work in the lab.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.