Acquisition of a clumped isotope gas-source isotope-ratio mass spectrometer and carbonate device for inclusive research and education at the University of Washington

The acquisition of a mass spectrometer and sample preparation equipment will be used to advance research and education in diverse fields of Earth-system science including geology, paleoclimate, and biological and ocean sciences. The new instrumentation will greatly enhance analytical capabilities in new geochemistry methods at the University of Washington (UW) to precisely measure the temperature and chemistry of carbonate minerals when formed in soils, lakes, oceans, fault zones, hydrothermal systems, and laboratory experiments.

The temperature estimates and cutting-edge chemical analyses will support research on modern and ancient environments to study Earth’s climate system, past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, the origin of landforms like the Colorado Plateau, and geologic drivers of biodiversity. Analyses of corals and shelled organisms will support environmental and marine sciences research relevant to ecology, physiology, and biochemistry.

The instrumentation will also enable analysis of minerals formed in fault zones and hydrothermal systems to study the interactions of sub-surface fluids and faulting, ancient earthquakes, and chemical reactions relevant to ore deposits, critical metals, and carbon dioxide sequestration. The research and educational opportunities provided by this instrument acquisition will advance trans-disciplinary research and education at UW and in the Earth science community.

The award will advance equity in undergraduate laboratory training and research through direct support of underrepresented minority students and broad dissemination of best practices for inclusive engagement with undergraduates. The instrument acquisition will substantially enhance infrastructure for essential Earth sciences research and education and contribute to technological innovation, societally-relevant scientific discovery, and building diverse STEM talent.

This award supports the acquisition and installation of a new carbonate sample preparation device and high-precision gas-source isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) to measure clumped isotopologues of CO2 at UW, to advance interdisciplinary research in tectonics, paleoclimate, geochemistry, and other Earth-science disciplines. The acquisition of the IRMS and sample preparation system will enable rapid, high-precision complete stable isotopic analysis (masses 44 - 49 inclusive) of small (<0.5 mg) carbonate samples for a wide range of ongoing and new research including novel applications of dual-clumped isotope analysis, and free up existing instrumentation to substantially increase capacity for novel triple-oxygen-isotope analyses.

The system will replace 1) an off-line custom preparation system for large (8-10 mg) carbonate samples, 2) an existing IRMS with modified collector for traditional clumped (mass 47 excess) work acquired with NSF funding in 2012, both of which will be optimized to support carbonate oxygen-17 excess analyses; and 3) replace ageing instrumentation that no longer provides reliable conventional carbonate bulk stable isotope data. In this way, the proposed instrument acquisition will be leveraged to expand capabilities for carbonate oxygen-17 excess analysis, traditional bulk stable isotope analyses, and enable new high-precision dual clumped isotope (47 and 48 excess) analyses of small samples, substantially benefitting hundreds of Earth-science researchers and students.

The proposed research is tightly integrated with education and outreach. The project will increase undergraduate geoscience lab opportunities through 1) direct support for student technical training and research in partnership with a cohort program for underrepresented minority undergraduates, and 2) national dissemination of research-based practices for enhancing belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in undergraduate geoscience laboratory research and training.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.