9304689 Banner This award provides one-half the funding required for the upgrade of a thermal ionization mass spectrometer in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas-Austin. The institution is committed to providing the remaining funds needed for the equipment upgrade. Accurate and precise measurement of small ion beam currents for mass spectrometry is critical for the research applications of the PI and colleagues in the Department of Geological Sciences. The upgrade consists of installing an ion counting device in the detector system. Ion counting, as opposed to the existing analog secondary electron multiplier measurement of ion current, will improve the group's capabilities to analyze for low-concentration trace element metals and isotopes in groundwater, fluid inclusions in rocks, and to date small single crystals of zircon using the uranium-lead isotopic system. ***
