TS: Advancing and Broadening Access to Laser-Ablation (U-Th)/He Thermochronlogy

This project will provide funds for human infrastructure support in the CU TRaIL (University of Colorado Boulder - Thermochronology Research and Instrumentation Lab) to help transform high-spatial resolution, LA-(U-Th)/He thermochronology from a specialty method accessible to only a handful of geochronologists worldwide into a technique available for widespread use by the national geoscience community. (U-Th)/He dating is now a fundamental tool for constraining thermal histories, with applications across a spectrum of tectonic, structural, geomorphic, sedimentary, petrologic, volcanogenic, and planetary studies. Nearly all existing (U-Th)/He data are conventional whole-crystal analyses.

Laser ablation (LA)-(U-Th)/He dating, in which one or more analyses are acquired on a small portion of a crystal, holds tremendous potential to enrich a wide variety of research.

The CU TRaIL currently serves as a major source of whole-crystal (U-Th)/He data and training for the U.S. Earth science community. This project will similarly create a community resource for LA-(U-Th)/He data and training in TRaIL, by accelerating TRaIL’s LA-(U-Th)/He development activities and providing the resources necessary to offer this powerful technique more widely.

Areas of application include more efficient generation of large-N detrital (U-Th)/(He-Pb) double-date datasets, multi-spot (U-Th)/He date profiles to constrain bedrock thermal histories, single-grain intracrystalline (U-Th)/He maps that can be integrated with other types of intra-grain data (e.g., Raman), in situ petrochronology, and analysis of minerals for which analytical challenges are posed by the conventional method. The new TRaIL team member will also establish new and engage in existing BAJEDI-focused activities that include a new partnership with a 79% minority, STEM-focused public high school in Denver, involvement of the lab for the first time in the CU Uplift Research Program that entrains underrepresented minorities in STEM research projects, and interacting with underrepresented minority students who are obtaining a summer research experience in TRaIL through the RESESS (Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students) program.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.