This grant support acquisition of a new bench-top gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) for biomarker research at Indiana University. The GC-MS will be dedicated to analyses of molecular constituents in geological samples that can provide invaluable clues to the diverse origins and varied fates of sedimentary organic matter. It will replace aged, high-maintenance GC-MS instrumentation that is at the end of its useful lifespan. Graduate and undergraduate students, and also visiting scientists, will be trained in its operation, learning how to identify organic compounds amid complex mixtures, and will use the results from their analyses in a broad spectrum of projects. Data obtained using this GC-MS instrument, coupled with information on isotopic compositions, will enhance research focused on understanding the numerous controls on molecular and isotopic compositions of earth materials. The results from such biogeochemical research will benefit understanding of the history of global climate and environmental change, the biogeochemical carbon cycle, microbial activity and the deep biosphere, and evolutionary processes.
