Grant: Major Resources Support Program - Infrastructure

The Canadian Cosmogenic Nuclide Exposure-Dating Facility (CCNEF) has been in operation since 2002 and is unique in Canada. The main purpose of the facility is to separate rare nuclides (isotopes) from natural samples and prepare them for accelerator mass spectrometry. Most of the researchers use nuclides that are produced in rock and soil from interactions with cosmic radiation to determine the duration that a landform (e.g. lava, earthquake fault scarp, glacier moraine, landslide, floodplain) has been on the Earth's surface. The terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide methods are revolutionizing earth system science because (i) the age limit of the technique spans decades to millions of years, which means it bounds and bridges many other dating methods for this time period; (ii) it is applicable on any rock type, provided that certain sampling conditions are met; and (iii) it has provided ways to measure erosion over space and time scales that are not attainable otherwise. Since 2002, over 800 samples from around the world have been processed for 10Be, 26Al, 36Cl to quantify timing and rates of important landscape, geodynamic, and biological events and processes, including slip rates of earthquake faults, rates and uniformity of glacial erosion, volcanic eruption frequency, sea level changes, and incision and exhumation of landscapes (e.g. Grand Canyon and Andes), archeological sites, and timing of drainage reorganisation for DNA-based phylogeography. We also develop the methods and test new applications. Our next proposed innovation will be the extraction of cosmogenic 14C from quartz and ultra-small masses of specific organic compounds. Students and research faculty in Canadian and foreign academic institutions, and at provincial and federal geological surveys, have used and trained at the facility. Our main requirements for MRS funding are partial support for salaries of 1.7 FTE technical staff. MRS will make the facility and foreign AMS facilities significantly more accessible to a diverse range of Canadian researchers.