This award supports the acquisition of an ICP-OES for geological and biological research. Requested are analytical capabilities sought by both geological and biological researchers at CSU-Fullerton. The instrument will offer in-house analyses to support extramurally-funded research now requiring contract laboratory contracts. The PIs will attack a range of research themes including paleoenvironmental reconstructions, environmental biogeochemistry, tephrochronology and marine ecology. Tephra beds will be assayed in order to better understand paleogeography. Metal contaminants will be assessed in impacted environments. For the marine ecology applications, the PIs will track seawater elemental flow between marine organism populations. The instrument will directly support students affiliated with the PIs. It is also proposed as a teaching resource for non-major courses. CSUF is a Hispanic Serving Institute with close to 50% of biology graduates being women. Research results will be published in peer-reviewed literature. The lead PI will house and administer the instrument. New users will be trained before being allowed to operate the instrument. The instrument will be made a regional resource for 15 local colleges/universities. Cost re-charges will be instituted to support long-term maintenance.
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An inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was purchased using funds granted by the National Science Foundation Major Instrumentation (MRI) program. The ICP-OES is used to determine what elements are present and at what amounts in a range of materials ranging from rocks to water to food. As a result, the ICP-OES has wide range of applications. The ICP-OES that was acquired for our research is largely being used to measure trace element concentrations in geologic materials (sedimentary rocks, volcanic glass, and groundwater and surface water). PI Woods and students (Elizabeth Agredano, Elizabeth Ortiz, Robert Sia and Shawn Sullivan) are primarily using the ICP-OES to measure trace elements in sedimentary rocks deposited during and following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the largest mass extinction in Earth history. This research is important because it allows us to determine what the causes of the mass extinction were, and how long it took for life to recover from this crisis, an important piece of knowledge given that the Earth is currently experiencing a mass extinction. Early results indicate that the extinction was likely related to oxygen-depleted waters in shallow marine environments, which smothered organisms, and led to a mass die-off. Primary producers (i.e., marine plants) recovered quickly from the extinction, within a few 10’s of thousands of years, and flourished to the point that the decomposition of dead plant material removed oxygen from the water and caused continued stress, preventing the recovery of organisms higher up the food chain. Co-PI Knott is planning on using the ICP-OES to chemically fingerprint volcanic glasses that can be used with other information to determine the history of volcanic eruptions and tectonics in the southwestern United States over the last few million years. Knott currently has a graduate student (Aaron Katona) collecting data in order to determine the applicability of the ICP-OES to this research. Co-PI Zacherl is planning on using the ICP-OES to measure seawater chemistry from samples taken off the coast of southern and central California. Unfortunately, co-PI Kneeshaw has left CSUF, but Professor Laton currently has an undergraduate student (Eric Caderet) collecting data to determine the role that rock chemistry has in determining water quality. Other faculty at CSUF and outside of CSUF and their students are encouraged to use the ICP-OES to collect data for their research, and plans are being made to use the ICP-OES in a wide array of classes, from GE classes (collecting water quality data from different water sources) to undergraduate major and graduate classes (e.g., water quality data, chemostratigraphic exercises, etc.). CSUF has a long tradition of encouraging student research at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and the ease-of-use of the ICP-OES allows students and faculty to be quickly trained in its use and collect data from a wide array of materials. We believe that exposing students to a broad range of scientific techniques, including ICP-OES, bolsters their chances of success in the workplace or in graduate programs. All students who collect data using the ICP-OES will be urged to present their results at regional and national societal meetings (e.g., Geological Society of America, American Chemical Society, National Groundwater Association, etc.), in addition to publishing their results as peer-reviewed publications. The ICP-OES will therefore allow CSUF to provide our students with a broader technological and scientific background, and provides our faculty with an important analytical tool for teaching and research.
