Purchase of an X-Ray Core Scanner for Research in Paleoclimatology and Global Change

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0949313RhodesThis award provides funding over 12 months to acquire an X-ray core scanner. The institution will provide partial funding. The instrument will provide high-resolution, non-destructive elemental abundances in core and rock samples. The XRF core scanner will be added to the X-Ray Analytical Facility. Existing X-ray spectrometers and diffractometers will be used to calibrate and intercompare with the new instrument. The PI will have overall responsibility while a full-time University-funded technician will be responsible for day-to-day operations. A user fee based on core size will be used for cost recovery. The instrument will support the PIs' efforts to assess paleoenvironmental changes at scales ranging from sub-annual to millennial. Climate histories recorded in cores will allow the PIs to better understand environmental change. The electron microprobe/scanning electron microscope facility will be used to further study scanned cores allowing a more efficient and robust overall sample processing scheme. Ultimately, more reliable calibrations and quantitative procedures will be developed. The instrument will be incorporated into an existing regional facility which serves UMAss and other institutions (Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College). The scanner will be available to student and faculty researchers. It will also be incorporated into courses in sedimentary geochemistry, sedimentology and X-ray analytical tecniques. The Svalbard REU project will immediately benefit with inherent societal climate change implications. STEM outreach will target teachers with environmental change assessment approaches which will benefit K-12 students. ***