This award provides partial funding for the acquisition of a thermal ionization mass spectrometer that will be installed and operated at the Field Museum-Chicago. The instrument will be the only one of its kind in the Chicago-northern Illinois area. The Field Museum and other participating institutions that will be using the spectrometer (University of Chicago and Northern Illinois University) are committed to providing the remaining funds needed to acquire the instrument. The new thermal ionization mass spectrometer will be used in applications focusing on the chronology of the early solar system, the weathering of continents, the isotopic evolution of seawater, and Se (selenium) isotope systematics for environmental studies. ***
