Equipment Acquisition of a Laser Ablation System and Triple-quadrupole Inductively coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA ICP-MS)

了解地球的演化在很大程度上取决于我们阅读、理解和解释存档在陆地材料中的化学和物理证据的能力，例如岩石记录和有机材料。几乎所有专注于更好地了解重大地质事件的研究项目的一个基石是对岩石样品和矿物的化学分析，因为它们的地球化学清单可以用来重建不同尺度的过程，例如成矿作用，大陆规模的事件，如塑造太平洋西北地区景观的哥伦比亚河洪水玄武岩喷发，或者一些地球最早的地壳是如何形成的。这笔资金将用于购买最先进的激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱系统，取代我们目前在华盛顿州立大学(WSU)彼得·胡珀地质分析实验室(WSU)建立的仪器。该实验室专门为国家(和国际)地球科学界提供研究质量的地球化学数据，其中许多项目由NSF资助。这些数据被用来促进我们对地球历史的理解。为了在未来继续履行我们的使命，我们需要更换我们现有的仪器，这些仪器已经全年运行了十多年，而且不再得到制造商的支持。最新一代的质谱仪允许对整个岩石样品中浓度低得多的微量元素进行量化，并允许开发新的方法来读取和解释地球材料中的地球化学特征。与质谱仪相连的激光烧蚀系统允许在微米级对矿物和几乎无限范围的材料进行现场分析，使来自地球科学、材料科学和生物科学等广泛学科的研究人员能够使用该实验室。这台新仪器将成为威斯康星州立大学教职员工和学生研究的核心，也是该实验室其他用户的核心。有了这种最先进的设备，我们将能够开发新的分析方法和方法，进一步提高我们在多个尺度上解决长期存在的关于地球历史的问题的能力。学生将接受尖端分析仪器方面的培训，因此，该奖项还将直接对分析地球化学领域及其他领域训练有素的劳动力产生积极影响。华盛顿州立大学(WSU)彼得·胡珀地质分析实验室(WSU)在过去5年(2016-2021年)通过溶液电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICPMS)分析了12,200个批量样品，仅在过去3年就分析了2000多个小时的激光烧蚀(LA)ICPMS分析。该提案要求获得资金，以购置一个新的最先进的ICPMS和LA系统，以便在未来十年及以后继续并扩大为地球科学界提供的高质量和可靠的微量元素分析服务。(A)ICPMS分析，特别是与XRF测量相结合，广泛用于地球科学研究，包括在地质和环境研究中的应用。量化地球物质的组成，包括火成岩、变质岩和沉积岩、土壤和考古文物，仅举几例，提供了关于样品来源和形成过程的关键信息。我们采用(LA)ICPMS的分析服务为北美的众多地球科学家提供高质量的研究数据--在过去3年中，超过100家不同的机构从我们的服务中受益。地质分析实验室被认为是北美学术地球科学研究的重要组成部分，因为它提供研究质量的分析服务，尤其是为地球化学研究界提供的服务。该实验室产生的数据为基础研究提供信息，为科学家和机构应对自然灾害、资源勘探、环境挑战和人类对气候的影响所做的决策提供信息。地质分析实验室还在为私营和公共部门的国家工作人员培训高技能地球化学家和技术人员方面发挥重要作用。这些技能只能在活跃的研究环境中获得。威斯康星州立大学地质分析实验室从四个方面为这一教育使命做出了贡献：(1)通过正规的课程指导和实践培训，(2)通过使用仪器的本科生研究项目，(3)通过培训来访学生，(4)通过雇用兼职学生劳动力，向学生介绍成功执行实验室程序所需的技能和责任。该奖项反映了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。

Understanding the evolution of the Earth relies heavily on our ability to read, understand and interpret chemical and physical evidence archived in terrestrial material, such as the rock record and organic materials. One cornerstone for almost all research projects focusing on better understanding major geologic events are chemical analyses of rock samples and minerals, as their geochemical inventory can be used to reconstruct processes at different scales, such as ore-genesis, continental-scale events like the eruption of Columbia River Flood Basalts that shaped the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, or how some of the Earth’s earliest crust has formed. This funding will be used to acquire a state-of-the-art laser-ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry system, replacing our current instruments at the Peter Hooper GeoAnalytical Laboratory at Washington State University (WSU) founded more than four decades ago. The Lab specializes in providing research-quality geochemical data to the national (and international) earth-science community, many projects of which are funded by the NSF. This data is used to advance our understanding of Earth’s history. To continue to fulfill our mission in the future, we need to replace our current instruments that have been in year-round operation for more than a decade, and which are no longer supported by the manufacturer. The latest generation of mass spectrometer allows for the quantification of much lower concentrations of trace elements in whole rock samples and permits the development of new approaches for reading and interpreting geochemical signatures in earth materials. The laser ablation system coupled to the mass spectrometer allows for in-situ analysis at a micrometer-scale in minerals and an almost unlimited range of materials, allowing for use of the Lab by researchers from a wide range of disciplines, such as the earth sciences, material sciences, and biological sciences. The new instrument will be central for faculty and student research at WSU, and for the Lab’s other users. With this state-of-the-art equipment we will be able to develop new analytical approaches and methods, furthering our ability to tackle long-standing questions about Earth’s history on multiple scales. Students will be trained on cutting edge analytical instruments and, therefore, this award will also directly positively impact the highly trained workforce in the field of analytical geochemistry and beyond. The Peter Hooper GeoAnalytical Laboratory at Washington State University (WSU) has analyzed 12,200 bulk samples via solution Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) over the last 5 years (2016-2021), plus more than 2000 hours of Laser Ablation (LA)ICPMS analyses in the last 3 years alone. This proposal requests funds to acquire a new state-of-the-art ICPMS and LA system for continuing and expanding the high quality and reliable services of trace element analyses for the geoscience community for the next decade and beyond. (LA)ICPMS analyses, especially in combination with XRF measurements, are employed in a broad range of Earth science research including applications in geological and environmental studies. Quantifying the composition of Earth materials, which include igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, soils, and archeological artifacts, to name only a few, provides critical information about the samples’ origins and what processes were involved in their formation. Our analytical service employing (LA)ICPMS supplies high-quality research data to a wide range of geoscientists in North America - over 100 different institutions over the last 3 years have benefited from our services. The GeoAnalytical Lab is considered a critical component of academic geoscience research in North America through the research-quality analytical services it provides, most notably but not exclusively for the geochemical research communities. Data produced by the Lab feeds basic research which informs decisions made by scientists and agencies addressing natural hazards, resource exploration, environmental challenges, and human impacts on climate. The GeoAnalytical Lab also plays an important role in training highly skilled geochemists and technicians for the national workforce in the private and public sectors. These skills can only be acquired in an active research environment. The WSU GeoAnalytical Lab contributes to this educational mission in four ways: (1) through formal course instruction and hands-on training of WSU graduate students from a variety of disciplines, (2) through undergraduate research projects that use the instrumentation, (3) through training of visiting students, and (4) through employment of part-time student labor, which introduces students to the skills and responsibility required to successfully perform laboratory procedures.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.