This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) funded by this award allows Penn State University (PSU) geoscientists and biochemists, who have contributed to the use of intermediate mass isotope systems (such as Ca, Cu, Fe, Li, and Mo) over the past ten years, to extend their contributions in these research areas, lead new initiatives in method development, and train students in advanced research methods. The instrumentation will be housed in a state-of-the-art clean laboratory facility, managed within the multi-user, cross-campus Materials Characterization Laboratory, and run on a daily basis by a MC-ICP-MS specialist who will train new users and help incorporate the instrument into established courses focused on data collection and analysis.
The MC-ICP-MS will support research aimed at elucidating fundamental isotopic systematics that will aid geoscientists in the examination of the past using geochemical proxies. Such research clarifies how the Earth system operates, illuminates critical feedbacks (such as those in the weathering-climate system), and suggests strategies for reading the rock record. The PSU MC-ICP-MS will promote innovative scientific projects led by both senior and junior researchers in ways that external instrumentation cannot. The instrument will (1) increase the speed with which funded research projects are completed, (2) allow for future method development in new isotopic systems, (3) enhance student training, and (4) promote collaborative research between disciplines. The MC-ICP-MS will benefit >15 researchers at PSU and nearby institutions since no similar instrumentation exists within ~200 miles. Outreach activities, publications, and conference talks will guarantee regional and global impact of the instrument.
The project supported the purchase and installation of a Neptune Plus multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) from Thermo Scientific. This instrumentation is unique at Penn State, and allows for the measurement of novel metal isotopes at tenths of a permil (hundreths of a percent) precision. Along with substantial support from Penn State University, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS), the Department of Geosciences, the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, the Materials Research Institute, the Eberly College of Science, and the College of Agricultural Sciences and significant logistical support from the Office of Physical Plant, EMS, and Geosciences, a new metal-free, clean laboratory facility was built to house the Neptune and support its operation. For the reader’s interest, images that display some of the renovation and installation work are included with this report. The Neptune was installed November 2011. To date, the MIL has supported the development of six isotope systems (Ca, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, and Sr), including the calibration of ion exchange purification of complex natural materials. The Neptune has been used to measure successfully Ca, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, and Sr isotopic composition in a range of natural materials, including rocks and minerals, soils, natural waters, and marine carbonates. The project has supported the training of students, mainly at the graduate level but also at the undergraduate level, in isotope geochemical techniques such as sample dissolution and purification, and mass spectrometric analysis. The project supported the hiring, and professional development, of a PhD-level Research Chemist, as well as the development of a more efficient management entity (Laboratory for Isotopes and Metals in the Environment, LIME) and a website that advertises the capabilities within LIME. The project has supported infrastructure development of both institutional and physical resources at Penn State. Metal isotopes are new and promising geochemical tools for the exploration of the past on Earth and other planets. Applications in the fields of nutritional sciences, contaminant geochemistry and provenance, and biomedical sciences are also important. Research to date at Penn State has focused on fundamental research that will help scientists understand how metal isotopes are useful as tools to understand natural systems and humans’ effects on them.
