Acquisition of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for Research and Education in Geological and Paleoclimate Studies at the University of Houston

休斯顿大学购买同位素比质谱仪用于地质和古气候研究的研究和教育

• 批准号: 2104159
• 负责人: Qi Fu
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-15 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2104159&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Isotope; Ratio; Mass; Spectrometer

This award will support the acquisition of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Houston. The instrument will expand analytical capabilities, enhance analytical accuracy and precision, increase sample throughput, and enable currently unavailable analyses at the University of Houston. Its highly improved sensitivity and precision allow measurements of clumped isotopes in carbonates, as well as traditional stable isotope characterization of light elements (C, H, O, N, and S) in gases, rocks, and other matrices. It will improve the research program of each PI, which covers a wide range of areas in geological and paleoclimate studies, their abilities to mentor and teach graduate and undergraduate students, and collaborations with other institutions. Postdocs, undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in hands-on training opportunities with this instrument, which are fully integrated with novel scientific projects and other educational activities. Through hands-on trainings and related courses, the instrument will be an invaluable tool for engaging undergraduate and graduate students in stable isotope geochemistry, in particular those historically underrepresented students (women and minorities) in STEM fields. It will infuse undergraduate and graduate students with interdisciplinary knowledge, and serve students, postdocs, and faculty from different departments and colleges at the University of Houston, local educational institutions, and research organizations. More importantly, through outreach activities, it will enhance geoscience education for local K-12 students, motivate them to consider building careers in geoscience, and raise public awareness of science in general in the greater Houston area.The requested IRMS instrument will form an integral component of research into fundamental geological processes on Earth and other planetary bodies, paleoclimatic effects on human evolution and migration, paleoenvironment and glacial history. It will foster current and future exciting interdisciplinary research by making precise isotopic measurements, and enable new fields of discovery in broad areas of Earth sciences. In organic geochemistry and astrobiology, isotopic signatures of light alkanes and clumped isotopes of carbonates from geological environments and laboratory experiments are used to elucidate their reaction pathway and formation condition, and constrain their origin. In geoarchaeology and soil science, clumped, triple oxygen, and traditional stable isotopes are used to reconstruct past climate and past environments to better understand the context in which humans and hominins evolved. In speleothem science and limnology, the use of conventional stable isotopes of speleothem and lake sediments with two recently developed proxies can provide a comprehensive understanding of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. In marine and glacial geology, past ocean water temperatures in west Antarctica are calculated using the stable isotope records from foraminifera, collected from sediment cores in locations where circumpolar deep water may be melting the base of major ice sheets, to better understand glacial history. Through current collaboration, the isotopic signatures of prehistoric skeletons will be combined with archaeological details and genetic analyses to identify the kinship system and origin of social inequality within ancient populations in Europe and Southeast Asia. Altogether, the related research projects point to the potentially high-impact science that a state-of-the-art IRMS with appropriate peripherals would allow at the University of Houston. The scientific findings will place the University of Houston on the leading edge of stable isotope geochemistry research.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.

该奖项将支持休斯敦大学地球与大气科学系的同位素比率质谱仪（IRMS）的收购。该仪器将扩大分析能力，提高分析精度和精度，增加样品吞吐量，并在休斯敦大学实现目前无法进行的分析。它的高度提高的敏感性和精度可以测量碳酸盐中的集团同位素，以及在气体，岩石和其他矩阵中光元素（C，H，O，N和S）的传统稳定同位素表征。它将改善每个PI的研究计划，该计划涵盖地质和古气候研究的各个领域，他们的能力指导和教授研究生和本科生，以及与其他机构的合作。博士后，本科生和研究生将与该工具一起进行动手培训机会，这些仪器与新颖的科学项目和其他教育活动完全融合在一起。通过动手培训和相关课程，该乐器将成为吸引本科生和研究生参与稳定同位素地球化学的宝贵工具，尤其是那些历史上那些在STEM领域中代表不足的学生（妇女和少数群体）。它将注入跨学科知识的本科生和研究生，并为休斯顿大学，当地教育机构和研究组织的不同系和学院的学生，博士后和教职员工提供服务。更重要的是，通过宣传活动，它将增强对本地K-12学生的地球科学教育，激励他们考虑在地球科学上建立职业，并提高大休斯顿地区的一般科学意识。所请求的IRMS仪器将成为地球上的基本地质过程的研究组成部分，对地球和其他行星的基本地质过程，对人类的迁移和迁移的历史和迁移，并将其构成。它将通过进行精确的同位素测量，并在地球科学广泛领域实现新的发现领域来促进当前和未来令人兴奋的跨学科研究。在有机地球化学和天文学中，使用地质环境和实验室实验的碳酸盐的光烷烃和集成的同位素的同位素特征用于阐明其反应途径和形成条件，并限制其起源。在地球科学和土壤科学方面，使用了结块，三重氧和传统稳定的同位素来重建过去的气候和过去的环境，以更好地了解人类和人类发展的环境。在Speleothem Science和Limnology中，使用两个最近开发的代理的Speleothem和Lake Semiments的常规稳定同位素使用可以提供对古气候和古环境的全面理解。在海洋和冰川地质学中，使用来自有孔虫的稳定同位素记录计算出过去的海洋水温，这些记录是从有孔虫的稳定的同位素记录中，从近极深水可能会融化主要冰淇淋底座的位置的沉积物岩心，以更好地了解冰川历史。通过当前的合作，史前骨骼的同位素特征将与考古细节和遗传分析相结合，以识别欧洲和东南亚古代人口中社会不平等的亲属体系和社会不平等的起源。总的来说，相关的研究项目指出，带有适当外围设备的最先进的IRM可能会在休斯敦大学允许的可能具有高影响力的科学。科学发现将使休斯顿大学处于稳定的同位素地球化学研究的领先地位。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估的。