Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer for Geological, Soil, and Environmental Analysis

9724508 Brantley This grant, made through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, provides $175,120 as partial support of the costs of acquiring a inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and limited salary support for an associated ICP-MS technician. Acquisition of the instrument will provide a large number of PI's at the Pennsylvania State University with the analytical capabilities to conduct high sensitivity and high precision major, trace and isotopic analyses for many elements of interest in geochemical and environmental research. Specific examples include, investigations of the stoichiometry and kinetics of strontium release from carbonates during weathering, studies of bacterial remineralization of trace elements bound in silicates, paleooceanographic investigations of the trace element geochemistry of carbonate microfossils and organic carbon during early diagenesis, trace metal release during the combustion of fossils fuels, and studies of adsorption/desorption processes and precipitation/dissolution kinetics of trace metals in soils and waste materials. ***