This award provides 25% of the funds required to purchase a mass spectrometer system for analyzing rare gas isotopes in geological, lunar and meteorite samples. The spectrometer will be installed and maintained in the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona. The University of Arizona will contribute 50% of the acquisition cost, and the remaining 25% will be contributed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The spectrometer will be capable of performing sensitive analyses of helium, neon, argon, krypton and xenon isotopes. Scientific projects will initially focus on dating of samples using the argon 40/39 method, xenon-based geochronology and the use of noble gases as tracers of planetary processes.
