Acquisition of a Cathodoluminescence Microscopy and Microsampling Facility

9910595 Alvarez这项奖励为加州大学伯克利分校地质和地球物理系首席研究员实验室购买阴极发光(CL)显微镜仪器提供50%的部分资金支持。该大学承诺提供收购所需的剩余资金。在化学发光显微镜中，抛光的岩石样品被来自阴极枪的电子轰击，使某些矿物发出特有的可见光，从而有可能识别成分或缺陷的细微差别。这项技术对方解石和白云石等碳酸盐矿物尤其有效，这些矿物是石灰岩的主要矿物。方解石的特殊发光颜色随锰铁比的不同而变化，这取决于岩石形成过程中晶体生长的条件。化学发光显微镜的新实验室能力将用于研究石灰岩的地层学、沉积学和构造变形，以及研究与陨石大撞击形成的岩石。

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.***