Acquisition of a new Electron Microprobe

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0111183RutherfordThis award will supply funding which will be used along with cost-sharing funds from Brown University to purchase a new Electron Microprobe. This instrument, with its state of the art analytical and surface imaging capability, will be an analytical centerpiece for a large number of research projects carried out by faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduates at Brown and as well as from the nearby University of Rhode Island. Research projects which will make use of the Microprobe include the following: (1) studies of minerals and glasses in volcanic rocks collected from recently active centers around the world directed at determining the nature and timing of processes involved in volcanic eruptions. (2) basic studies of diffusion and reaction kinetics in both naturally occurring and synthetic geological materials, (3) studies of deformation of geological materials in both the brittle and ductile regimes with application to understanding earthquakes fracturing processes in rocks, (4) studies of plate tectonic processes as revealed in the ages of minerals and rocks, and (5) studies of rocks and volcanic processes as they occur on other planetary bodies such as the Earth's moon and Mars. This research involves approximately ten faculty at Brown, three at nearby URI, and as many as twenty graduate students, five post-doctoral fellows, and five to ten undergraduates each year. ***