This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Funds will be used for the acquisition of replacement electronics and associated components for a thermal ionization mass spectrometer that has formed the cornerstone of research and training programs in U-series (230Th-234U-238U) and U-Th-Pb dating at the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC). Our existing mass spectrometer continues to be capable of state-of-the-art U-Pb measurements and remains an important resource for vetting U-series measurements by newer techniques (i.e., plasma mass spectrometry); however, it is increasingly subject to failures of its ageing electronics that disrupt laboratory operations and reduce productivity. The acquisition via this award of new electronic components will extend the useful life of the thermal ionization mass spectrometer for several years, providing performance and productivity approaching those of a new instrument, but at a fraction of the cost.
Reliable, precise ages from U-series and U-Pb dating are essential to fundamental research on a wide spectrum of processes and events in the development of the Earth and life upon it. Such topics include climate change, earthquake science, evolution of humankind and its cultures, and past global environmental catastrophes that altered the course of biotic evolution. The BGC has a long history of developing and improving dating techniques, conveying this knowledge and experience to other labs and scientists, and training early-career scientists such as graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, thereby enhancing the national capability and capacity for research in earth and life sciences. The new award provides highly cost-effective support that will allow us to sustain these activities.
