Equipment Upgrade for Electron Microprobe, University of Houston Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

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Sisson0949400This award provides $159,861 in NSF funding over 24 months to acquire wavelength and energy dispersion add-ons for an existing electron microprobe (EMP) at the University of Houston. Other upgrades (cathodoluminescence, upgraded crystal monochromator) are also requested to enhance the instrument?s performance. This instrument will be used for cathodoluminescence (CL)-imaging for zircon geochronology; garnet and other silicate zoning analysis using visualization capabilities; thermobarometry, geochronology and structural analysis (using X-ray mapping); phase characterization in relict mineral phases from mantle peridotites and basaltic glasses from the Arctic mid-ocean ridges and elsewhere; and retrograde eclogites, high-pressure jadeitites and their associated rocks from the Motagua suture zone, Guatemala. The instrument will be heavily involved in discovery through education. The facility expects to support over 80 undergraduate students per year, exposing them to modern microbeam materials characterization. The institution serves the minority communities in the East Texas regions, and is the top minority STEM graduate producer in a region. The enhanced microbeam analytical facility will help attract and retain high-quality graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. The PIs will be responsible for routine maintenance, training and scheduling - through an advisory committee. ***