Acquisition of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer to map water in the Earth's mantle

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0743377Peslier This proposal seeks funding to acquire a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) with a microscope attachment. This acquisition will allow microspectroscopy at the mid-IR, near-IR and UV-visible spectral range with spatial resolution approaching 8 µm. Requested is a Thermo-Nicolet 6700 FT-IR spectrometer with a Continuum XL IR microscope. The new acquisition will be housed at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). This instrument will enable the analysis of water variations and content in geologic specimens from various mantle domains (oceanic versus continental, cratonic versus non-cratonic, etc). Specific applications are to 1) map OH and H2O vibrational regions on individual mineral samples, 2) map OH absorbance intensity on single grains, 3) analyze hydrogen in mantle minerals with water content less than 0.3 ppm, 4) identify different hydrogen species in glass and mineral matrices, and 5) generate 3D water maps in upper mantle regions. The instrument will be managed by the PIs who will provide training and ensure optimal usage. PI Peslier is the electron microprobe manager at the Astromaterials and Space Research division at NASA-Johnson Space Center and a visiting scientist at LPI with 50% labor for electron microprobe management and 50% research. The FTIR will be located at LPI to allow collaborators from other institutions as well as foreign nationals access to the instrumentation. The instrument will be made available to researchers engaged in water ? rock measurements on terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples. Six major users in addition to the two PIs will use the instrument for various projects. Researchers from University of Houston Downtown, UH - Clear Lake, UH ? Galveston, Texas A&M, Houston College of Sciences, Texas Southern and others will have instrument access.***