Project Grant 2039271

This $169,286 Project Grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) to fund a collaborative research project titled "A New Sanidine-Liquid Hygrometer: Experiments, Calibration and Applications." The project aims to calibrate a water-dependent geothermometer based on sanidine compositions, which can be used to determine the conditions of crystallization for important igneous...

This $189,543 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports the development of a low-cost, lightweight hygrometer for in situ measurements of water vapor in the tropical tropopause layer on high-altitude balloons. The hygrometer will replace the previously used sensor in the RACHUTS instrument package, which collects temperature, humidity, and cloud particle observations to study cirrus cloud formation. The new sensor uses wavelength modulation...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) provides $599,137 to the University of Arizona to develop a laser-based system for rapid and precise measurement of rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen in carbonates. The proposed research seeks to expand on the university's prior work in creating an automated, tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy (TILDAS) system that can measure certain "clumped" isotopologues of CO2 as...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program ($391,286) supports the development of rubidium-strontium (Rb-Sr) mica reference glasses and in situ Rb-Sr geochronology studies from January 2023 through December 2025. The University of Maine will produce two mica reference glasses characterized for major and trace elements and Rb-Sr isotopes using high-precision isotope dilution and multi-instrument proficiency testing. These freely disseminated reference...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) provides $650,214 to the University of Nevada, Reno to study lithium enrichment in volcanic caldera systems. Principal investigators Drs. Harlaux and Ruprecht will analyze melt and fluid inclusions in volcanic rocks from the McDermitt Caldera using electron microprobe, LA-ICP-MS, and SIMS to determine how lithium progressively enriched in magmas and was partitioned into volatile phases during magma...

This National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences project grant of $209,641 will fund research from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2025 to reconstruct magmatic plumbing systems using fluid inclusions. Led by Cornell University, this award under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) will support three principal investigators to precisely measure densities of carbon dioxide-rich fluids trapped in crystals from volcanic eruptions on Hawaii and the Canary Islands. By determining fluid...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) provides $248,863 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research entitled "Collaborative Research: Ear Climate - Pairing Calcium and Clumped Isotopes to Inform Carbon Cycle and Climate Dynamics at the Onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age." The research will develop novel isotope proxies to understand the role of land plant evolution on organic carbon burial, atmospheric carbon dioxide,...

This $173,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports research to develop muscovite mica as a new continuous geothermometer for determining crustal rock temperature histories between 275-425 degrees Celsius. Lehigh University will conduct diffusion and dating experiments on muscovite samples with known thermal histories to test its utility for temperature measurement during rock cooling. Samples will also undergo reheating experiments to examine muscovite response to shorter thermal...

This three-year, $337,782 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports research at California State University Fullerton and Princeton University to determine the time and length scales of magma bodies in magmatic arcs. The grant recipients will study potassium feldspar phenocrysts and megacrysts up to 12 cm long containing mineral inclusions from the Tuolumne Intrusive Complex in Yosemite National Park. Electron microprobe, laser...

This $241,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) will provide a Picarro L2140-I isotopic water analyzer to Grand Valley State University (GVSU) for interdisciplinary research on hydroclimate, water cycling, and ecosystem interactions. The instrument will enable GVSU researchers and students to precisely measure variations in water isotopes to study climate change impacts, freshwater ecosystem health, and groundwater...