Acquisition of a New XRF Spectrometer and Automated Sample Fusion Furnace

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A New X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer at University of Massachusetts-AmherstThis grant pays for a new X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer to replace two old and failing X-ray spectrometers at UMass-Amherst. The current instruments have operated constantly for more than 30 years. The new instrument will continue to be an important resource for the students and faculty at UMass, the Five College consortium in the region and universities worldwide. The UMass laboratory has served scientists the world over for more than 30 years. It will now be able to continue the tradition as a valuable and trusted resource for high quality XRF chemical analyses to the U.S. scientific community.This grant pays for a new X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer to replace two old and failing X-ray spectrometers at UMass-Amherst. It also pays for an upgraded XRF sample preparation facility through the acquisition of an automated fusion furnace. The two current X-ray spectrometers have served the geological community for 33 years (Siemens MRS-4) and 23 years (Philips PW2400) and have been in constant operation over this period. Now, however, both need to be replaced because replacement parts are no longer available. The XRF Analytical Facility at UMass has provided high quality XRF major and trace element analyses to faculty and students at UMass, the neighboring Five Colleges, and the U.S. petrological, volcanological and geochemical community for more than 30 years, and this can now continue into the future.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.