Acquisition of a New Stable Isotope ratio Mass Spectrometer with Carbonate and Water Systems to Support Earth Science Research at Rutgers University

该奖项支持在罗格斯大学购买一台带有外围设备的同位素比质谱仪（IRMS），该质谱仪将允许对碳酸盐矿物和水样中的氧、碳和氢同位素进行自动分析。 该仪器配备了稳定同位素质谱分析的最新技术，可扩展到“聚集同位素”古温度测定领域。 新仪器将为罗格斯大学的几个活跃的研究项目提供关键支持，调查从最近的千年到数百万年的古气候问题。 罗格斯大学的稳定同位素实验室（SIL）也被没有稳定同位素能力的地区机构的研究人员使用，如Seton Hall，William Paterson，CUNY-Queens等。 罗格斯大学的SIL已经并将继续测量珊瑚、有孔虫、成土碳酸盐、洞穴沉积物和骨骼/牙齿化石的样本，以及从南极大陆边缘、北冰洋、深海孔隙沃茨和其他地方收集的水样。 聚集的同位素能力将增强许多这些项目，为当前和未来的项目增加新的层面。 最后，新的综合资源管理系统将积极用于本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员的教育和培训。20多年来，SIL一直被用于研究生和本科生课堂的体验式学习。新的IRMS仪器将成为研究古气候问题的活跃研究人员的主力。 稳定氧同位素测量用于提供海洋沉积岩心和珊瑚岩心的初始地层，但也将提供古温度，冰量估计和淡水输入，特别是当与罗格斯大学现有的痕量金属能力相结合时。碳同位素测量为项目提供了解决碳循环和储存问题的关键数据。研究人员还利用碳同位素测量来推断景观变化，如C3与C4植物的比例和哺乳动物的古饮食。 我们将继续测量水样中的氧同位素，因为各种项目的数据分析需要IRMS提供的精度（0.05‰）。例子包括海洋岩心的孔隙水同位素测量，其范围为~0.5‰，但可用于计算海水氧同位素变化的冰川-间冰期变化。 测量“成团”或三键同位素的能力将扩大目前在罗格斯大学使用SIL的研究人员的研究能力，并带来新的研究人员。 聚块方法允许碳酸盐样品中的温度的独立测量，使我们从d18 O水含量的假设。 该奖项得到了海洋科学部海洋地质学和地球物理学项目的共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) with an attached peripheral at Rutgers University that will permit the automated analysis of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen isotopes in carbonate minerals and water samples. The instrument is equipped with the latest technology in stable isotope mass spectrometry to allow expansion into the field of “clumped-isotope” paleo-thermometry. The new instrument will critically support several active research programs at Rutgers University, investigating paleo-climate questions that span from the most recent millennia back to 100’s of millions of years. The Stable Isotope Laboratory (SIL) at Rutgers is also used by researchers at regional institutions who do not have stable isotope capabilities, such as Seton Hall, William Paterson, CUNY-Queens, among others. The SIL at Rutgers has and will continue to measure samples from corals, foraminifera, pedogenic carbonates, speleothems, and fossil bones/teeth, as well as water samples collected from the Antarctic continental margin, Arctic Ocean, deep-sea pore waters, and elsewhere. The clumped isotope capabilities will augment many of these projects adding a new dimension to current and future projects. Finally, the new IRMS will be actively used for education and training of undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral researchers. For over two decades, the SIL has been used to provide experiential learning in both graduate and undergraduate classes.The new IRMS instrument will become the workhorse for an active group of researchers investigating paleo-climate problems. Stable oxygen isotope measurements are used to provide initial stratigraphies for marine sedimentary cores and coral drillcores, but will also provide paleotemperature, ice volume estimates and freshwater inputs especially when combined with trace metal capabilities already existing at Rutgers. Carbon isotope measurements provide projects with critical data to address carbon cycling and storage. Carbon isotope measurements are also used by researchers to infer landscape changes such as the proportion of C3 vs C4 plants and paleo-diet in mammals. We will continue to measure oxygen isotopes in water samples because data analysis in various projects require the precision (0.05‰) afforded by IRMS. Examples include pore water isotopic measurements from marine cores that have a range of ~0.5‰ but can be used to calculate glacial-interglacial variations in seawater oxygen isotope changes. The ability to measure “clumped” or triple-bond isotopologues will expand the research capabilities among researchers who use the SIL at Rutgers presently as well as bring new researchers. The clumped methodology allows for the independent measurement of temperature in carbonate samples, freeing us from assumptions about the d18Owater content. This award received co-funding from the Marine Geology and Geophysics program in the Ocean Sciences Division.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.