Acquisition of a Cathodoluminescence Microscopy and Microsampling Facility

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9910595Alvarez This award provides fifty- percent partial funding support for the acquisition of instrumentation to perform cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy in the Principal Investigator's laboratory in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of California, Berkeley. The University is committed to providing the remaining funds necessary for the acquisition. In CL microscopy, a polished rock sample is bombarded with electrons from a cathode gun, causing certain minerals to emit characteristic visible light and making it possible to recognize fine differences in composition or defects. The technique works especially well with the carbonate minerals such as calcite and dolomite that are the dominant minerals of limestones. Specific luminescent colors in calcite change with the ratio of Mn to Fe, which varies from zone to zone, depending on the conditions of crystal growth during rock formation. The new laboratory capability in CL microscopy will be applied to research projects on the stratigraphy, sedimentology, and tectonic deformation of limestones as well as the study of rocks formed from ejecta of large impacts with meteorites.***