Central Appalachians Stable Isotope Facility

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/04/2010 - 3:12pm
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The Central Appalachians Stable Isotope Facility (CASIF) is located at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's (UMCES) Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland. The laboratory performs state-of-the-art stable isotope measurements on a variety of sample matrices.

CASIF was established in early 2010 with funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and UMCES. Faculty who contributed to the NSF proposal come from four institutions in the central Appalachian Mountains: the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory (AL), West Virginia University (WVU), Frostburg State University (FSU) and the Canaan Valley Institute (CVI).

Stable Carbon Isotopes
Depiction of the two most common stable isotopes of carbon. Green circles represent protons, red circles represent neutrons, and ellipses represent the path taken by the six negatively charged electrons (not shown).

Stable Isotope mass spectrometers help determine the isotopic composition of water, pollen, leaf, and soil samples. 

Isotopes are different forms of the same chemical element that vary in the number of neutrons in their nucleus, which gives them slight differences in mass.  For example, carbon has two stable isotopes: carbon-12 and carbon-13 (left).  Carbon-12 has 6 neutrons, whereas carbon-13 has 7.  The mass spectrometer is capable of detecting these small differences in mass, which provides essential information for documenting changes to ecosystems over time.

While research programs vary by scientist, the facility will be instrumental in expanding regional research into landscape ecology, remote sensing, plant ecology, and hydrology. 

CASIF will help scientists better understand historical climates and ecosystems in order to predict response to expected future climate change, long-term variability in the flow of the Potomac River, how nitrogen availability impacts the growth of trees in the northeastern United States, and how invasive species can alter stream ecosystems.

Click here to visit the CASIF website.

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