This grant provides partial support of the costs of acquiring a stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer (SIRMS) for global change research at the University of South Florida (USF). Co-PIs, Quinn and Flower will use the mass spectrometer to generate high-resolution stable oxygen and carbon isotopic records, primarily from coralline and foraminiferal carbonate, as proxies of paleo sea-surface temperatures, paleoproductivity and past atmospheric pCO2 conditions in studies of global climate change. The new light stable isotope facility at USF will have numerous benefits to USF faculty, students and other researchers in the greater Tampa Bay area. Some of these benefits include: 1) helping to further establish a productive program in paleoclimatology, sedimentary geochemistry and paleoceanography, 2) permitting the exploration of new research in stable isotope geochemistry by USF faculty and students, 3) allowing the expansion of interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues outside of the Earth and Marine Sciences, and 4) facilitating the integratioin of undergraduate and graduate students into analytically based research projects. The SIRMS will be housed in a newly renovated space specifically designed for such a facility and its associated sample preparation rooms. Support for this grant is shared equally between the Earth Science Instrumentation and Facilities Program (EAR/IF), the Division of Ocean Sciences' Oceanographic Instrumentation and Technical Services Program (OCE/ITS) and the Paleoclimate Program of the Division of Atmospheric Sciences (ATM/PC). ***
