U.S.-Bulgaria Cooperative Research: A Novel Approach to Milliprobing Mossbauer Studies of Geologic Samples : Olivine Crystals with Fe-Bearing Precipitates

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This is a U.S.-Bulgarian cooperative research project that focuses on developing a new Mossbauer spectrometry technique to improve signal quality for small samples, with application to the study of exsolved phases in olivine. The principal investigators are Larissa Dobrzhinetskaya and Harry Green from the University of California at Riverside and Todor Ruskov from the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy in Bulgaria.The proposed technique will improve our ability to measure the oxidation state of iron on very small samples with a focus on determining the oxidation state of mantle minerals exhumed from very deep depths. This work will help determine the origin of these minerals and the mantle's oxygen fugacity, both of which are poorly constrained at present.The broader impact resulting from the proposed activity is enhanced access to facilities for measuring Mossbauer spectra of small samples. Such a facility has numerous applications beyond the geosciences and will foster interdisciplinary cooperation.This project in earth sciences research fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Central/Eastern Europe to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.