Acquistion of an Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for Earth and Ocean Sciences at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

The oceanographic instrumentation program supports requests to acquire instrumentation for the collection, processing and analysis of oceanographic data. This proposal from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory (LDGO) requests funding for acquisition of an Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP/MS). This instrument will be used to support NSF-funded research at LDGO and will be made available for shared use by the oceanographic community. LDGO will supply matching funds for this purchase. The inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) interface effectively lowers the detection limit for mass spectrometer analysis. Samples are aspirated into a high temperature argon plasma, which ionizes elements with ionization potentials lower than Ar with an efficiency of over 90% (for 50 elements; 70% for most others). These ions are then pulled through the ICP interface to the mass spectrometer. The instrument will be used for a wide variety of NSF-funded research efforts that require the accurate detection of elemental composition. The ICP-MS analysis technique allows the use of smaller sample volumes and decreases the amount of time required per sample for analysis.