UV-visible spectrophotometer

由于金属矿床越来越难以发现，勘探策略越来越依赖于定量描述金属运输和沉积机制的成因模型。在热液矿床的情况下，这些模型的发展在很大程度上取决于热力学数据的可用性，用这些数据来评价水相金属配合物在高温高压下的稳定性。申请人经营世界上为数不多的实验室之一，这些实验室进行生成这些热力学数据所需的实验。尽管使用溶解度方法已经成功地进行了金属形态研究，但这种方法的缺点是只能确定物种的热力学性质，而这些性质在实验条件下占主导地位。使用紫外可见分光光度法可以克服这一限制，该方法允许同时评估涉及特定金属和配体的多种物质的热力学性质。申请人使用这种方法取得了相当大的成功，最近完成了第一个也是唯一一个对热液流体中稀土元素（REE）行为的综合研究，其结果现在被广泛应用于地壳交代作用和核废料处理等各种主题的研究。本申请寻求资金，以取代一个十年的紫外可见分光光度计，已成为无法使用，因为光学系统的恶化。新的紫外-可见分光光度计将具有更高的分辨率，从而能够产生更好的热力学数据，并将最初用于调查钴、铀和锆的形态，这些研究将有助于改进这些矿床的矿床模型。更一般地说，这些设备将使我们能够继续发挥重要作用，向科学界提供对模拟地壳流体中金属的运输至关重要的数据。

As metallic mineral deposits have become more difficult to find, strategies for their exploration have become increasingly dependent on genetic models which quantitatively describe the mechanisms of metal transport and deposition. In the case of hydrothermal ore deposits, development of these models depends heavily on the availability of thermodynamic data with which to evaluate the stability of aqueous metallic complexes at elevated temperatures and pressures. The applicant runs one of a small number of laboratories around the world that conduct the experiments needed to generate these thermodynamic data. Although metal speciation studies have been conducted successfully using the solubility method, this approach suffers from the fact that it is only possible to determine the thermodynamic properties of species, which are predominant under the experimental conditions. This limitation can be overcome using UV-visible spectrophotometry, which allows simultaneous evaluation of the thermodynamic properties of multiple species involving a particular metal and ligand. The applicant has been using this approach with considerable success, and recently completed the first and only comprehensive study of the behaviour of the rare earth elements (REE) in hydrothermal fluids, results of which are now finding widespread application in studies of topics as diverse as the metasomatism of the crust and the disposal of nuclear waste. This application seeks funds to replace a ten year old UV-visible spectrophotometer which has become unusable because of deterioration of the optical system. The new UV-visible spectrophotometer will have improved resolution permitting the generation of superior thermodynamic data, and will be used initially to investigate the speciation of cobalt, uranium and zirconium, studies that will contribute to improved ore deposit models for these deposits. More generally, the equipment will allow us continue to play an important role in supplying the scientific community with data that are essential to modelling the transport of metals in crustal fluids.