Facility Support: Multi-User Facility Support for U-Th-Pb Geochronology at the Arizona LaserChron Center

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

0732436 Gehrels Innovations in experimental methods and instrumentation are revolutionizing the acquisition and application of geochronologic information in Earth Science research. Some of the most exciting advances are being driven by Laser-Ablation Multicollector ICP Mass Spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS), which allows for rapid determination of U-Th-Pb ages with micron-scale spatial resolution. This technique is fundamentally changing the way that geochronologic information is utilized, with impacts that cover the span of structural geology, tectonics, stratigraphy, paleontology, petrology, economic geology, and geochemistry. The Arizona LaserChron Center (ALC) is a multi-user facility that utilizes LA-MC-ICPMS to provide the NSF-supported Earth Science community with U-Th-Pb geochronologic information and training. Primary goals of the ALC are to (1) generate high quality/low cost U-Th-Pb geochronologic information for NSF-supported researchers, (2) use every aspect of facility operation as an opportunity to train student and faculty researchers in geochronologic theory and methodology, and (3) drive the development of new techniques and applications that take advantage of the strengths of LA-MC-ICPMS. The funding will provide support for ALC staff members to assist NSF-supported researchers in acquiring geochronologic information and to drive the development of new analytical techniques, for maintenance and modernization of instrumentation, and for students to be able to conduct research in the laboratory. This support will enable the ALC to provide geochronologic information for ~50 researchers per year in support of ~30 different NSF-EAR awards. This collaborative research will drive important new developments in studies of the growth of continents, processes of mountain building, generation and dispersal of sediment through space and time, formation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, history of evolutionary changes, chronology of early hominids, and genetic linkages between climate and tectonics.