Schilling 9413712 This award provides support, through the Academic Research Infrastructure Program, for the acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass-Spectrometer (ICP-MS) as the basis for the establishment of an analytical facility at the University of Rhode Island. This analytical facility provides a needed and geographically centralized capability for researchers in atmospheric and ocean chemistry, marine and terrestrial geology and environmental science. Specifically, the PIs intend to study mid-ocean ridge hotspot volcanism and mantle geochemistry, oceanic trace metal scavenging and related particle dynamics, paleoenvironments, atmospheric trace metal geochemistry, and terrestrial and marine sedimentology and geochemistry. ICP-MS instrumentation is well suited to the proposed analyses because it provides increased efficiency and sensitivity for elemental analysis and negates the need for extensive sample preparation prior to analysis. The instrument will serve, particularly as the core of an analytical facility, as a test bed for new analyses, a training asset for faculty, researchers and students, and also as a regional analytical resource accessible to researchers from neighboring New England universities and research centers. The University of Rhode Island will provide 50% cost sharing for this project. ***
