Acquisition of Mass Spectrometers for the Cornell Laboratory for Natural Abundance Isotope Analysis

为康奈尔大学自然丰度同位素分析实验室购置质谱仪

• 批准号: 9512240
• 负责人: Robert Howarth
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: Cornell Univ - State: AWDS MADE PRIOR MAY 2010
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-08-15 至 1999-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9512240&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Mass; Spectrometers; Cornell; Laboratory

The development of stable isotope mass spectrometry has revolutionized the ability to pose and answer questions of how interactions between biological and geological processes define the Earth's environment. At this interface between biology and geology lies the rapidly evolving discipline of biogeochemistry. Stable isotope mass spectrometry allows biogeochemists to ask questions - at scales ranging from microbial to global processes - that are critical to understanding how the Earth's ecosystems function, and how the biosphere is linked to human activities. A particular value of analyzing the natural abundance of stable isotopes is that they integrate information in space and time, and they allow an analysis of the net result of complex interaction of processes. Also, these approaches free researchers from the "Heizenberg uncertainty" principle as it applies to biogeochemistry; we sample the end result of processes without affecting them, whereas most other approaches to studying the biogeochemistry of ecosystems result in alterations in functioning due to sampling. A brief look at leading scientific journals shows that stable isotope techniques increasingly contribute to our most important advances within biogeochemistry. In fact, studies employing stable isotope data are now a norm, rather than an exception, in prestigious journals such as Nature or Science. Despite this growing importance, there are a relatively limited number of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities available for biogeochemical research within the U.S. and internationally. Formal training programs for the next generation of biogeochemists are even more limited. In this proposal we seek funds to establish a mass spectrometry facility at Cornell University, "The Cornell Laboratory for Natural-Abundance Isotope Analysis." This facility will provide a state-of-the-art laboratory for isotope analysis and methods development, and will serve as a center for interaction betwe en different faculty and students at Cornell that currently work at the conceptual interface between geology and biology. With funds from other sources, we plan to develop a formal training program in isotope techniques for students and visiting scientists. This program will provide on-site expertise and training fellowships for graduate and post-graduate researchers as well as opportunities for visitors to obtain the skills to run instrumentation and develop isotope techniques for their research. The program will also provide a forum for exchanging ideas, fostering interdisciplinary research, and enhancing training in isotope instrumentation. We believe that this balance between instrumentation, research and training will make this facility uniquely important for biogeochemical research, nationally as well as internationally. The facility will feature three major instruments and appropriate laboratory facilities for preparation and analysis of samples by a wide range of isotope applications. Two Finnigan MAT stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) will provide isotopic ratio analysis of C, N, O, S and H, with capabilities to analyze liquid, particulate, and gaseous samples, and will have the appropriate interfaces for compound-specific mass spectrometry. One IRMS (delta S, Finnigan Mat) will be used to process and analyze the very large number of samples ( l 0,000/year) generated by the 14 core faculty and their graduate and post-graduate associates, and off-campus scientists who are currently using isotope techniques in their research. The second IRMS (model 252, Finnigan Mat) will be used for high precision (+ 0.005 parts per thousand) analyses (compound specific, as well as high precision gas ratio determination), for training, and for methods development. One Hewlett Packard inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) will provide rapid and efficient analyses of concentrations of up to 40 or more elements , allowing trace-element analyses at part-per-trillion levels. Such information can "fingerprint" the movement and mixing of different elements from different sources through complex flow paths within ecosystems, as well as provide detailed information on chemical environments and transformations. This ability to coincidentally measure isotope ratios together with concentrations of elements provides a powerful capability to follow the biogeochemical movements and cycling of elements and water within and between the Earth's natural ecosystems. This facility will enhance research for a spectrum of Cornell faculty and lab groups that use natural abundance stable isotope approaches to study the interface between biology and geology. Currently, these groups have to send their samples to outside labs, with relatively long turn-around times and with little opportunity for methods development or student training.

稳定同位素质谱的发展彻底改变了提出和回答生物和地质过程之间的相互作用如何定义地球环境的问题的能力。在生物学和地质学的交汇处，存在着快速发展的生物地球化学学科。稳定同位素质谱分析使生物地球化学家能够提出从微生物到全球过程的各种问题，这些问题对于了解地球生态系统如何运作以及生物圈如何与人类活动联系起来至关重要。分析稳定同位素的自然丰度的一个特殊价值在于，它们整合了空间和时间上的信息，并且可以分析过程复杂相互作用的最终结果。此外，这些方法使研究人员摆脱了适用于生物地球化学的“海森堡不确定性”原理。我们对过程的最终结果进行采样而不影响它们，而研究生态系统生物地球化学的大多数其他方法会因采样而导致功能的改变。对领先科学期刊的简要浏览表明，稳定同位素技术日益为我们在生物地球化学领域最重要的进步做出贡献。事实上，在《自然》或《科学》等著名期刊中，使用稳定同位素数据的研究现已成为一种常态，而不是例外。 尽管重要性日益增加，但美国和国际上可用于生物地球化学研究的最先进的质谱设施数量相对有限。 针对下一代生物地球化学家的正式培训计划更加有限。在本提案中，我们寻求资金在康奈尔大学建立质谱设施，“康奈尔自然丰度同位素分析实验室”。该设施将为同位素分析和方法开发提供最先进的实验室，并将作为康奈尔大学不同教师和学生之间的互动中心，这些教师和学生目前从事地质学和生物学之间的概念界面工作。利用其他来源的资金，我们计划为学生和访问科学家制定同位素技术的正式培训计划。该计划将为研究生和研究生研究人员提供现场专业知识和培训奖学金，并为参观者提供获得运行仪器和开发用于研究的同位素技术的技能的机会。该计划还将提供一个交流思想、促进跨学科研究和加强同位素仪器培训的论坛。 我们相信，仪器、研究和培训之间的这种平衡将使该设施对于国内和国际生物地球化学研究具有独特的重要性。 该设施将配备三台主要仪器和适当的实验室设施，用于通过广泛的同位素应用来制备和分析样品。两台 Finnigan MAT 稳定同位素比质谱仪 (IRMS) 将提供 C、N、O、S 和 H 的同位素比分析，具有分析液体、颗粒和气体样品的能力，并将具有用于化合物特定质量的适当接口光谱测定法。一台 IRMS（delta S，Finnigan Mat）将用于处理和分析由 14 名核心教员及其研究生和研究生同事以及校外科学家生成的大量样本（l 0,000/年）。目前他们的研究中使用同位素技术。第二个 IRMS（型号 252，Finnigan Mat）将用于高精度（±0.005 ppm）分析（特定化合物以及高精度气体比率测定）、培训和方法开发。一台惠普电感耦合等离子体质谱仪 (ICP-MS) 可对多达 40 种或更多元素的浓度进行快速高效的分析，从而实现万亿分之一水平的痕量元素分析。 此类信息可以“指纹”来自不同来源的不同元素通过生态系统内复杂的流动路径的运动和混合，并提供有关化学环境和转化的详细信息。 这种同时测量同位素比率和元素浓度的能力为跟踪地球自然生态系统内部和之间的生物地球化学运动以及元素和水的循环提供了强大的能力。该设施将加强康奈尔大学一系列教员和实验室小组的研究，利用自然丰度稳定同位素方法来研究生物学和地质学之间的界面。 目前，这些小组必须将样品发送到外部实验室，周转时间相对较长，并且几乎没有方法开发或学生培训的机会。