Implementation of a noble gas spectrometric platform

GEOTOP是加拿大唯一一个在稀有气体地球化学方面拥有科学知名专业知识的研究中心，这里指的是更广泛的意义，而不限于地质年代学（例如，K-Ar年代测定）。稀有气体（He、Ne、Ar、Kr和Xe）是惰性和稀有元素，其同位素和元素组成不能通过任何化学反应改变。因此，它们的同位素组成记录了气体的来源和将它们划分为陆地储层的地质过程。它们作为地球化学示踪剂的用途是强大的，正如过去半个世纪中所做的深刻和基本的科学发现所表明的那样，包括在陨石中发现太阳前颗粒，灭绝的放射性核素，地球和火星大气层的起源，地幔脱气，或通过宇宙成因惰性气体核素确定冰川表面的年代。GEOTOP的惰性气体实验室深入参与了许多研究计划，旨在发现大陆地壳中地质流体的起源，演变和停留时间，从当地地下水到地热盐水。这些研究的结果有许多应用程序，以更好地了解能源和矿床的起源，加拿大的一个重要经济部门。该实验室启动了一项雄心勃勃的研究计划，研究地球上主要元素的起源，主要是碳和卤素（Cl和Br）及其在地球系统中的循环，使用惰性气体作为参考示踪剂。这一科学努力得到了墨西哥、冰岛、智利和法国热液流体研究以及钻石研究的支持，钻石是地幔流体的沉淀产物。稀有气体地球化学需要一个最先进的分析平台，该平台由三个要素组成，每一个要素对于这些耗时但高回报的分析的成功至关重要：1）从地质材料中提取气体的系统（流体包裹体的真空破碎、金刚石高温炉、流体真空提取器）; 2）纯化线，这对于获得纯惰性气体混合物而不含可能产生干扰从而显著损害分析的杂散气体至关重要;以及3）最先进的高灵敏度、高分辨率惰性气体质谱仪（NGMS）。GEOTOP的惰性气体实验室拥有高端的HELIX-MC NGMS，它保证了惰性气体的高精度分析，以及多年来获得NSERC RTI和CFI赠款的众多提取系统。然而，14年前我获得的第一笔NSERC RTI资助的纯化线，正处于其生命周期的末期，造成了严重的分析瓶颈，严重危及HQP的培训和研究进展。该申请旨在通过购买一条新的全自动纯化线来更新惰性气体分析平台，以保证GEOTOP和国外众多研究生和合作者的未来研究。

GEOTOP is the only research center in Canada having a scientific renowned expertise in noble gas geochemistry, here intended in a broader sense and not limited to geochronology (e.g., K-Ar dating). Noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) are inert and rare elements, whose isotopic and elemental composition cannot be altered by any chemical reaction. Consequently, their isotopic composition records the sources of gases and the geological processes which partitioned them in the terrestrial reservoirs. Their use as geochemical tracers is powerful, as illustrated by the scientific discoveries of profound and fundamental nature that were done in the last half-century, including the discovery of pre-Solar grains in meteorites, the extinct radionuclides, the origin of Earth's and Mars' atmospheres, mantle degassing, or the dating of glaciated surfaces by cosmogenic noble gas nuclides. The Noble Gas Laboratory at GEOTOP is deeply involved in numerous research programs aimed to discover the origin, evolution and residence time of geological fluids in the continental crust, from local groundwater to geothermal brines. The results of these studies have numerous applications to better understand the origin of energy and ore deposits, a vital economic sector for Canada. The laboratory has initiated an ambitious research program on the origin of major elements on Earth, mainly carbon and halogens (Cl and Br) and their cycling in the Earth System, using noble gases as reference tracers. This scientific endeavor is alimented by studies of hydrothermal fluids in Mexico, Iceland, Chile and France and in diamonds, as precipitation products of fluids in the mantle. Noble gas geochemistry requires a state-of-the-art analytical platform, which is composed of three elements, each one vital to the success of these time-consuming but highly rewarding analyses: 1) extraction systems of gases from geological materials (vacuum crushing for fluid inclusions, high-temperature furnaces for diamonds, vacuum extractors for fluids); 2) a purification line, which is vital to obtain a mixture of pure noble gases without spurious gas that can create interferences and thus dramatically compromise the analyses; and 3) a state-of-the-art high-sensitivity, high-resolution noble gas mass spectrometer (NGMS). The Noble Gas Laboratory at GEOTOP owns the high-end HELIX-MC NGMS, which guarantees high-precision analyses of noble gases, and numerous extraction systems acquired over the years with NSERC RTI and CFI grants. However, the purification line, acquired 14 years ago with my first NSERC RTI grant, is at the end of its life cycle creating a serious analytical bottleneck, dramatically endangering HQP training and progress in their research. This application is to update the noble gas analytical platform by acquiring a new, fully-automated purification line to guarantee the future studies of the numerous graduate students and collaborators at GEOTOP and from abroad.