Acquisition of Tabletop SEM for the University of Rochester Experimental Geochemistry Laboratory

该地球科学部仪器和设施项目奖支持罗彻斯特大学地球和环境科学系购置一台扫描电子显微镜（SEM）。扫描电镜能够在微米尺度上以高达10万倍的放大倍率揭示矿物特征和化学成分，并将配备一个能量色散光谱仪，允许空间分辨成分分析。扫描电镜将用于研究在实验室中生长的合成矿物的化学性质，以模仿自然界中发生的矿物生长现象。扫描电镜将是小格式和便携式的，使学生能够在教室环境中进行地球和人造材料表征的培训。针对K-12教师培训的本地推广也将从此次收购中受益。扫描电镜将支持实验火成岩岩石学的研究，包括微量元素矿物-熔体分配研究，合成和天然矿物的平衡同位素分馏研究，结晶温度计和氧逸度测定方法的开发。该仪器还将支持罗切斯特大学的其他实验室，包括：(i)同位素地球化学实验室，测量岩石和矿物的放射性成因和稳定同位素组成，以更好地了解地球硅酸盐储层的历史；（ii）构造地质学组，在不同的尺度上研究山带的演化，包括碎裂岩和糜棱岩的微观结构分析，以了解变形机制和运动演化；（三）古地磁课题组，专注于测量各种材料的剩磁（体磁性、自然剩磁）。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Division of Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities Program award supports acquisition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to be housed in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at University of Rochester. The SEM is capable of revealing minerals features and chemical composition at the micron-scale with magnification up to 100,000x and will be equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer which permits spatially resolved compositional analysis. The SEM will be used to investigate the chemistry of synthetic minerals grown in the laboratory that seek to mimic mineral growth phenomena occurring in nature. The SEM will be small format and portable enabling student training in Earth and manmade materials characterization within classroom settings. Local outreach targeted at K-12 teacher training will also benefit from the acquisition.The SEM will support research in experimental igneous petrology including trace element mineral-melt partitioning studies, equilibrium isotope fractionation studies of synthetic and natural minerals, development of crystallization thermobarometers and oxygen fugacity determination methods The instrument will also support other University of Rochester laboratories including: (i) the laboratory for isotope geochemistry which performs measurements of radiogenic and stable isotope compositions of rocks and minerals to better understand history of Earth’s silicate reservoirs; (ii) the structural geology group who study the evolution of mountain belts at many different scales including microstructural analysis of cataclasites and mylonites to understand deformation mechanisms and kinematic evolution; and (iii) the paleomagnetic research group that focuses on the measurement of magnetic remanence (bulk magnetic properties, natural remanent magnetization) of a variety of materials.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.