This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Isotopic measurements provide natural sciences with a quantitative tracer of chemical processes and sources. Improvements in the precision of isotope measurements open up new avenues of scientific inquiry and significantly enhance our understanding of natural processes. Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometery (MC-ICPMS) is a relatively new technique for the measurement of isotopic compositions at high precision and as such this instrumentation has important implications for earth, ocean, and environmental sciences.
This National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation funding will be used to purchase a state-of-the-art multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer to pursue diverse geochemical, environmental and geochronological research at the University of Wyoming. Housing an MC-ICPMS will lead to a substantial improvement in the University of Wyoming?s capabilities to conduct cutting-edge research. This MC-ICPMS will provide essential research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students using state-of-the-art facilities, as well as serving other regional, national and international researchers.
MC-ICPMS revolutionized mass spectrometry. Specifically, MC-ICPMS has dramatically increased the precision of isotopic measurements for most elements, particularly those with high first ionization potentials (e.g. Th, Hf, W, Pb, etc.,) while significantly reducing analysis time for all isotopic measurements. MC-ICPMS also opened up exploration of the periodic table leading to the discovery of small, but significant, natural isotopic variations in a number of elements, which were previously difficult or even impossible to analyze. Researchers are now studying mass-dependent and mass-independent variations in the isotopic compositions of many elements (from Li to U), in addition to "traditional" H, C, N, O, and S. These additional stable isotope systems have allowed researchers to place new constraints on many kinetic processes relevant to a limitless number of topics in energy sciences including mineralization, water-rock interaction, dissolution-precipitation, oxidation-reduction, bio-mediation. The University of Wyoming’s new NEPTUNE Plus is a state-of-the-art, next-generation MC-ICPMS and is indisputably the most sensitive and stable multi-collector ICPMS the industry has ever created. Our particular machine has what ThermoFisher calls ‘the most sophisticated collector block ever built – in addition to the nine standard movable faraday collectors, this machine has 8 ion counters with two of these ion counters having high abundance sensitivity filters in front of them. This array was designed according to my specifications and was set it up to provide a unique capability for measuring low-level U-Th-Pb isotopes (simultaneously) and Ra isotopes. Since installation, we have produced several publishable state-of-the-art data sets on high precision U, Th, Nd, Sr, Pb and Hf isotopes for numerous researchers from the University of Wyoming, the State of Wyoming, the Rocky Mountain Region, the US and across the globe This instrumentation has been operational since August 2011 and has provided publishable data for several projects (some which is now in submission). This facility is run by facility manage Jennifer Bonini and operates on a cost per day basis with the explicit intent of having a balanced budget every year. University of Wyoming Faculty Professor Carol Frost (Sr and Nd Isotopes and concentrations) Dr Erin Campbell-Stone (Sr isotopes) Professor Mike Cheadle (Sr isotopes) Professor Ron Frost (Sr and Nd Isotopes and concentrations) Professor Ken Sims (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) U Wyoming students and post-doctoral researchers Dr. Chris Waters (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) Lynsey Jo Spaeth (Sr isotopes) Jake Carns (Sr isotopes) Tim Matthews (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) Erin Phillips Writer (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) Fred McLaughlin (Sr and Nd Isotopes and concentrations) Outside users and collaborators: Professor David Pyle and his student Dave Ferguson from Oxford, UK (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) Professor Mark Reagan and his post doc Guillard Guillame, U of Iowa (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations) Professor Sarah Aciego and her students, U of Michigan (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Hf isotopes and concentrations) Professor Jennifer Garrison and her students, Cal State LA (U, Th, Ra isotopes and concentrations, Sr and Nd isotopes and concentrations)
