9714263 Koch This grant provides partial support of the costs of upgrading the stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (SIRMS) facility at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Funds will be used to purchase and develop a fluorination vacuum line for extraction of oxygen from silicate, oxide and phosphate minerals, and an induction furnace vacuum line for thermal decomposition of hydrous minerals prior to hydrogen isotopic analyses These new analytic capabilities will provide the recently hired PI, Paul Koch, with the necessary tools to conduct stable isotopic analyses of fossil bone collagen, teeth and soil carbonates as proxies in paleoecological investigations that have profound implications for understanding Cenozoic climate, habitats and regional tectonics. ***
