Grant: Major Resources Support Program - Infrastructure

The Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) is a major analytical facility dedicated to innovation in geochemistry that is housed in the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS) at the University of British Columbia. This facility serves the earth, environmental, oceanographic, atmospheric and biological science research needs of investigators from universities from across Canada and other countries, government agencies, and the mineral industry. The primary goals of the PCIGR are (1) to provide a fully integrated analytical facility to stimulate new avenues of research in the earth, ocean, and environmental sciences, (2) to establish productive collaborations with other disciplines, such as the medical, biological, and chemical sciences, (3) to attract and retain researchers from the Canadian and international scientific communities, and (4) to provide high-quality analytical services. The proposed research themes include: global climate studies, geochemical tracers in the Earth's mantle and lithosphere, marine biogeochemical cycles, paleoceanography, environmental geochemistry, timescales and rates of geologic processes, and metals in the Earth. The broad range of geochemical research that is carried out at the PCIGR is unique to Canada and truly multi-disciplinary, reflecting the range of expertise and research interests of the users of the PCIGR. The facility is centred around the analytical capabilities of 7 mass spectrometers housed in new clean rooms, an array of elemental and gas analyzers, 3 new chemical clean laboratories, and an inorganic geochemical laboratory. Isotopic and chemical systems currently under investigation include radiogenic isotopes in tracer (Th-Pa, Pb-Pb, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf) and geochronological studies (U-Pb, Ar-Ar), heavy stable isotopes in geologic and biologic materials (Fe, Mo, Cd, Mg, Cu, Zn, Li), light stable isotopes (C, O, H, N) in carbonate minerals, sediments, waters, and gases, and trace element characterization of earth, ocean, and environmental materials.