MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-Collector ICP-MS with Laser Ablation for Geochemical and Geochronological Applications

该合同支持迈阿密大学地质与环境地球科学系购买多收集器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(MC-ICPMS)和激光消融(LA)系统。(LA)-MC-ICPMS将补充现有的Triton热电离质谱计(TIMS)，为广泛的地球科学和相关学科的学生培训和研究活动创造一个最先进的同位素地球化学设施。(LA)-MC-ICP-MS将使学生在现代分析技术方面获得丰富的实践经验，这些技术正广泛应用于科学和医学领域的各个学科，以及整个工业和政府就业部门。新的仪器也将是PIS为培训和指导STEM中代表性不足的群体而开发的两个新方案的关键组成部分：针对当地高中女生的暑期研究方案，以及针对少数族裔学生的第一年研究经验，与迈阿密的Louis Stokes少数民族参与联盟方案相联系。(LA)-MC-ICP-MS将促进高温地球化学(例如，地壳演化、造山带生长、俯冲通量、岩浆作用和时间尺度)和低温地球化学(例如，古气候重建、矿床形成、环境污染物的命运和迁移)等领域的研究活动。以及地质考古学、地球生物学、地球微生物学、行星地质学和核取证。这项研究将涉及广泛的放射性成因(Nd、Pb、Hf、Th、U)和非传统稳定同位素系统的分析，包括几个处于开发和应用相对早期阶段的系统，例如基于溶液的Mo、Ag、235U/238U“稳定”同位素系统；以及通过LA-MC-ICP-MS进行U-Pb和U-Th原位测年(碳酸盐)和锶、镁和S同位素。因此，收购拟议的仪器将有助于进一步建立这些同位素系统和技术，作为有用的地球化学工具，可以在社区范围内使用，并应用于未来的广泛科学调查。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports the acquisition of a multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) with a laser ablation (LA) system to be housed in the Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science at Miami University. The (LA)-MC-ICP-MS will complement the existing Triton thermal ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS), creating a state-of-the-art isotope geochemistry facility for student training and research initiatives in a wide range of geoscience and related disciplines. The (LA)-MC-ICP-MS will enable students to gain significant hands-on experience with modern analytical techniques that are becoming widely applied across disciplines in science and medicine, and throughout industry and government employment sectors. The new instrumentation will also be a key component of two new programs that the PIs will develop for training and mentoring of underrepresented groups in STEM: a summer research program for local high school girls, and a First Year Research Experience for minority students, linked to Miami's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program.The (LA)-MC-ICP-MS will facilitate research initiatives in the areas of high temperature geochemistry (e.g., crustal evolution, growth of orogenic belts, subduction fluxes, magmatic processes and timescales) and low-temperature geochemistry (e.g., paleoclimate reconstruction, ore deposit formation, fate and transport of environmental contaminants), as well as geoarchaeology, geobiology, geomicrobiology, planetary geology, and nuclear forensics. The research will involve analysis of a wide range of radiogenic (Nd, Pb, Hf, Th, U) and non-traditional stable isotope systems, including several that are in the relatively early stages of development and application, e.g., solution-based Mo, Ag, 235U/238U "stable" isotope systems; and in situ U-Pb and U-Th dating (carbonates) and Sr, Mg, and S isotopes via LA-MC-ICP-MS. As such, acquisition of the proposed instrumentation will contribute to further establishing these isotope systems and techniques as useful geochemical tools that can be used community-wide and applied to a wide range of future scientific investigations.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.