MRI: Track 1: Acquisition of a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer for U-daughter analyses

About This Grant

This award supports acquisition by the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC) of a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS). The instrument will be used to determine the ages of rocks and minerals, and in turn, to date key events and first-order processes that have shaped today's Earth. Uranium-lead and uranium-series dating, both based on the decay of naturally occurring uranium in diverse geological materials, will be the main techniques used. Together, they can provide ages for rocks and minerals formed as recently as the last few years or as old as the Earth and our solar system. When understood in their geologic context, such radioisotopic ages allow scientists to build a timeline for Earth's past including, for example, the volcanic and tectonic activity that formed the continents and oceans, and the history of life on Earth. Such knowledge is fundamental to basic Earth science research, guides exploration for natural resources, and provides the means to assess hazards posed by earthquakes and active volcanoes. Research at BGC involves collaborators from across the United States and provides hands-on training for undergraduate and graduate students and other early career researchers. Their expertise in analyzing minute quantities of uranium and related elements using the new mass spectrometer will enhance the national capacity and capability not only in Earth sciences but also nuclear energy and forensics. The new TIMS supported by this award will replace an existing TIMS instrument, now nearly three decades old, which is limited by obsolete detector technology and has become unreliable due to aging hardware and legacy software systems. The new TIMS instrument will provide much improved operational reliability and its enhanced ion beam stability, state-of-the-art ion detection systems, and modern data acquisition platforms will significantly improve precision, accuracy and throughput. These improvements will enable BGC scientists to continue delivering high-resolution geochronological data critical for addressing a wide range of fundamental Earth science problems including: chronologies of biotic evolution and extinction events; the timing and duration of magmatic activity associated with major biotic crises; calibration of stratigraphic records of past environmental change such as Earth's icehouse episodes; and intercalibration with other chronometers (e.g., 40Ar/39Ar, cosmogenic nuclides). In addition to analytical applications, the new TIMS will serve as a platform for methodological innovation such as development of novel sample preparation techniques and expanded applications of U-daughter systems to unconventional materials. It will also support a broad user base comprising undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting collaborators, while contributing to workforce development through technical training and mentoring in radiogenic isotope geochemistry. 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.