Acquisition of a Mass Spectrometry System for Noble Gas Geochemistry at Harvard

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

EAR-0236594 Mukhopadhyay The noble gases have been used to provide important constraints on a wide range of problems including the chronology of mantle degassing, exhumation rates of crustal blocks, the thermal history of sedimentary basins, and the origin of planetary atmospheres. This grant provides partial support for a fully automated, state of the art noble gas laboratory in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard. The laboratory will be capable of measuring all the noble gases, from He to Xe, and will tackle a variety of scientific applications that require high productivity, high precision, and ultra low blanks. Specific research projects that will utilize the unique analytical capabilities of the laboratory include geochemical evolution of the mantle, surface-exposure dating, low temperature thermochronometry, and measurements of extraterrestrial 3He to assess the distribution of time in sediments.