This grant supports acquisition of a high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) system for amino acid racemization thermochronology and plant pigment analyses, a gamma spectrometer for 210Pb and 137Cs dating of recent sediments and calculation of sedimentation rates, and a microwave digestion system and freeze drier for sample preparation. The equipment will support PI research in Quaternary paleoclimatology, quantitative geomorphology, aquatic ecology and watershed hydrology at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado. PI environmental change research has immediate relevance to our understanding of global and regional climate dynamics and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. The equipment will support student research training, and active PI outreach efforts to the local K-12 community.
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This award was in support of enhanced instrumentation for Quaternary and paleoclimate research. If funded the acquisition of new instruments. With these funds we purchased: • Two new high-pressure liquid chromatograph (HPLC) systems. One system is set up in ion-exchange mode and used primarily to provide precise quantification of protein residues (amino acids) preserved in fossils (currently, primarily eggshells of giant birds from Australia and Africa). These data allow us to date the eggshells, and to make estimates of past temperatures, The second machine is used for reverse-phase chrimatography or in diode-array mode to quantify pigments in natural sediments. • Two 8-tube freeze driers. These instruments allow us to remove water from geological samples through vacuum freezing (lyophilization) without damaging the samples. Both machines are in near-constant use by a wide range if INSTAAR researchers • We purchased an instrument to quantify the amount of dissolved biogenic silica in lake sediments using Fourier-Transfor Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). This expedites and improves reproducibility of an important climate variable (essential diatom productivity, whether preserved or dissoved) in lake sediments. The instrument is in near constant use, currently on thick sequnces of lake sediments in Iceland and also from Arctic Canada. • We purchased a microwave digester. This instruments uses tightly controled microwaves on geological samples in various solutions to dissolve components not wanted, and yet preserve desired subsamples. The instrument is often used on lake sediments. Overall these 5 instruments and greatly acceleratred the research programs of several INSTAAR researchers, and provided us with the ability to quantify some aspects of Quaternary paleoclimate that could not be done in house before.
