Acquisition of a multicollector mass spectrometer for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

购买用于 40Ar/39Ar 地质年代学的多接收器质谱仪

• 批准号: 2030393
• 负责人: Paul Renne
• 金额: $ 49.14万
• 依托单位: Berkeley Geochronology Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2030393&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; multicollector; mass; spectrometer; 40Ar

This project provides a new mass spectrometer for 40Ar/39Ar dating of geologic materials such as rocks and minerals. This instrument will be used to provide fundamental time constraints on the evolution of Earth and its biota, including humans. Among other applications, specific topics to be addressed include the tempo and history of climate change, which is needed to evaluate the extent of anthropogenic effects; the causes of mass extinctions manifest in the geologic record; and the timescales of volcanism, which is critical to evaluating volcanic hazards. The instrument will be extensively used by students who will gain invaluable hands-on experience in furtherance of sustaining the STEM educational pipeline. The Berkeley Geochronology Center laboratory is an important training ground for the next generations of 40Ar/39Ar geochronologists, who will benefit from experience using the most modern available instrument.The new instrument replaces obsolete and failing mass spectrometers with multi-collector, high sensitivity, high resolution capabilities which serve to improve the precision and accuracy of 40Ar/39Ar dates. The multicollection feature enables a five-fold increase in throughput. The instrument uses novel capacitive discharge ion beam detection, enabling the use of highly stable Faraday collectors, thus reducing the precision and accuracy sacrificed by the intercalibration of ion-counting multipliers. The ion Ar beam is produced by a novel cathode source that operates at substantially lower temperatures than conventional filament sources, enabling higher sensitivity and greater source lifetime. The new instrument will be mated to a highly flexible, fully automated extraction line with dual sample chambers to exploit the increased throughput, and reference gas reservoirs to monitor mass discrimination and sensitivity.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.

该项目提供了一种新型质谱仪，用于岩石和矿物等地质材料的 40Ar/39Ar 测年。该仪器将用于为地球及其生物群（包括人类）的演化提供基本的时间限制。在其他应用中，要解决的具体主题包括气候变化的速度和历史，这是评估人为影响程度所必需的；大规模灭绝的原因体现在地质记录中；以及火山活动的时间尺度，这对于评估火山危害至关重要。该工具将被学生广泛使用，他们将获得宝贵的实践经验，以促进维持 STEM 教育渠道。伯克利地质年代学中心实验室是下一代 40Ar/39Ar 地质年代学家的重要培训场，他们将受益于使用最现代化的可用仪器的经验。新仪器以多接收器、高灵敏度、高灵敏度取代了过时和失效的质谱仪。分辨率能力有助于提高 40Ar/39Ar 日期的精度和准确度。多重收集功能可将吞吐量提高五倍。该仪器采用新颖的电容放电离子束检测，可以使用高度稳定的法拉第收集器，从而降低离子计数乘法器相互校准所牺牲的精度和准确度。离子 Ar 束由新型阴极源产生，该阴极源在比传统灯丝源低得多的温度下工作，从而实现更高的灵敏度和更长的源寿命。该新仪器将与高度灵活、全自动的提取线配合使用，该提取线具有双样品室，以利用增加的吞吐量，并与参考气库一起监测质量歧视和灵敏度。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过以下方式获得支持：使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。