A LA-ICP-MS for Planetary Science

Detailed analysis of samples from planetary bodies is central to understanding the story of our Earth and the wider Solar System. A huge range of specialised instruments have been developed to this end, and many of them are now used in much more immediate ways - seeking for resources, understanding our civilization's effect on the environment, tracing the pathways chemicals move through our bodies, causing and curing diseases. In each case, the most progress is made when multiple different techniques are used to understand a single sample. In addition, it is vital to extract the maximum amount of useful information from each analysis to understand its implications properly.

In Manchester we have a wide range of such specialised instrumentation, some of which is unique in the world because we have developed it ourselves. In this proposal, we seek to fund a technique that will complement our existing capabilities. This instrument uses a very short laser pulses to fragment spots in the surface of a sample that are smaller that a tenth of a millimetre. The fragments are carried by a gas flowing over the sample surface into a mass spectrometer that analyses the elements that were present. When the information from this technique is combined with the output from our other analytical techniques we will have a new and powerful way of studying the nature and sequence of processes that led from the condensation of the first dust in our solar system to the formation of planets like the Earth. We will also be able to understand how the surfaces of other planetary bodies, especially Mars and the Moon, formed and evolved through volcanic processes. Throughout Solar System history planetary bodies have been pummeled by asteroids and comets, and it is thought that these impacts brought volatile elements and precious metals to the early Earth- with this new technique we will be able to understand the nature of the material that has been added to the planets since their formation, and so better understand the events that made our planet habitable and, indeed, hospitable to complex life.

This proposal aims to equip a group that specializes in the analysis of planetary materials with a new commercial instrument for the analysis of trace elements in solid materials. The problems faced in performing such analyses have much in common with similar problems encountered in a wide range of other disciplines, for instance detecting and studying environmental pollutants, understanding the formation of natural resources so they can be efficiently and sustainably identified and utilized, understanding the processing of elements in the human body and other living systems so that we can prevent or treat diseases. The group funded has a long track record of developing techniques motivated by research questions in planetary science that are now finding applications across this range of activities that deliver wider economic and societal benefit, and we would aim to develop the technique in a similar way. In addition, the instrument can produce rapid analyses of extraterrestrial material and thus allow us to develop planetary science research projects in partnership with local schools, introducing the principles of quantitative analytical science to the next generation.