MRI: ACQUISITION OF A WAVELENGTH DISPERSIVE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETER FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH AT FRESNO STATE

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This award will permit the purchase of a new Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer to replace an aging instrument purchased in 2002. The new instrument will open up many new research avenues. The new analytical instrument will be an important tool in educating the next generation of scientists. These analytical instruments allow students to participate as partners in research. By having such equipment available, students can ask questions and form and test their own hypotheses, and perhaps most importantly, revise their hypotheses as they collect new data. The researchers and students will use the instrument to address questions such as the sources of heavy metal contaminants in groundwaters of the San Joaquin Valley of central California, an area where access to clean drinking water can be problematic for many residents.This award will fund a new X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to provide essential support for the following: (a) Studies of ancient and active volcanoes that provide tests of how and why volcanoes erupt; (b) Examination of metamorphic rocks of the California Coast Ranges, to determine how subductions zones (the collision of two tectonic plates) affect the kinds of rocks that are produced at Earth's surface; and (c) An interdisciplinary collaboration to study how soils interact with groundwater to affect the quality of drinking water in California's Central Valley. Many small towns in the "Valley" rely on groundwater for drinking, but many such communities have groundwater that is contaminated by uranium, arsenic, chromium and other heavy metals. This collaborative study will combine expertise in microbiology, mineralogy and groundwater chemistry to identify how such contaminants enter groundwater, which will lead to viable mitigation efforts.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.