This award provides partial (50%) funding to acquire a solid source mass spectrometer with a 30-centimeter energy filter. The spectrometer will be housed in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Minnesota. The University will provide the remaining 50% required for the purchase of the instrument. The spectrometer system will be capable of very high precision and sensitivity for measurement of the uranium series nuclides, thorium-232 and U-234. Initial research with the instrument will focus on obtaining records of Quaternary paleo- sea levels, records of tectonic movements and associated earthquake activity in the past, and records of carbon-14 variations in past atmospheres.
