9402110 Schlosser This award provides funding to construct an inlet system for mass spectrometric measurement of tritium by the He ingrowth method. The inlet system will automate the processing of tritium samples 1) increasing the capacity of the laboratory, and 2) improving the quality of the tritium measurements. The increased capacity of the laboratory will be necessary to process the large number of samples generated by a variety of NSF-funded research projects, particularly WOCE studies of deep water formation in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans and long-term observations of deep water formation in the Greenland/Norwegian and Labrador seas. The PI has established a state-of-the-art laboratory for noble gas measurement over the past six years. The laboratory currently consists of two mass spectrometers; one dedicated to heavy noble gas measurements (from 3He to 136 Xe) and the other dedicated to He isotope and tritium measurements. The demand for He isotope and tritium measurements has grown to the point that separated mass spectrometers are needed for He and tritium. This demand has been created by oceanographic studies funded by NSF/OCE, NSF/OPP and NOAA. NOAA has provided $200,000 for acquisition of third mass spectrometer that will by dedicated to tritium measurements. This proposal will allow the PI to construct an inlet system for the new tritium mass spectrometer consisting of (1) a cryogenic cold trap system for separation of helium from other gases, (2) gas pipettes for standardization, and (3) the sample inlet and purification lines. The expected capacity of the new system will be 1500 samples per year which should by sufficient to meet the demands of currently funded research projects. Future expansion of the inlet system will be possible should demand exceed 1500 samples per year. Joint funding for this award will be provided by the OCE Arctic Systems Science Program, the OCE/Physical Oceanography Program, the OCE/Instrumentation and Techn ical Services Program, and the Polar Ocean and Meteorology Program.
