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

该合同将允许购买新的波长色散X射线荧光光谱仪，以取代2002年购买的老化仪器。新仪器将开辟许多新的研究途径。 新的分析仪器将是教育下一代科学家的重要工具。这些分析仪器允许学生作为研究伙伴参与。有了这样的设备，学生可以提出问题，形成和测试自己的假设，也许最重要的是，在收集新数据时修改他们的假设。 研究人员和学生将使用该仪器来解决诸如加州中部圣华金河谷地下水中重金属污染物来源等问题，该地区许多居民获得清洁饮用水可能存在问题。该奖项将资助一种新的X射线荧光光谱仪，为以下方面提供必要的支持：（a）对古老的活火山进行研究，以检验火山喷发的方式和原因;（B）加州海岸山脉的变质岩的检验，来确定俯冲带（两个构造板块的碰撞）影响了地球表面产生的岩石种类;（c）进行跨学科合作，研究土壤与地下水如何相互作用，从而影响加州中央谷的饮用水质量。 “山谷”中的许多小城镇依赖地下水饮用，但许多这样的社区的地下水受到铀、砷、铬和其他重金属的污染。这项合作研究将结合联合收割机在微生物学，矿物学和地下水化学的专业知识，以确定这些污染物如何进入地下水，这将导致可行的缓解努力。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.