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

该奖项在24个月内为休斯顿大学现有的电子微探针（EMP）提供159,861美元的资助，用于获得波长和能量色散附加组件。其他升级（阴极发光，升级晶体单色仪）也被要求提高仪器？年代的性能。该仪器将用于锆石年代学的阴极发光（CL）成像；使用可视化功能分析石榴石和其他硅酸盐分区；热气压测量、地质年代学和构造分析（使用x射线制图）；北极洋中脊和其他地区地幔橄榄岩和玄武岩玻璃残余矿物相的物相表征；以及危地马拉莫塔瓜缝合带的逆行榴辉岩、高压翡翠岩及其伴生岩石。该仪器将通过教育大力参与发现。该设施预计每年将为80多名本科生提供支持，让他们接触到现代微束材料表征。该机构服务于东德克萨斯地区的少数族裔社区，是该地区顶尖的少数族裔STEM毕业生生产者。增强的微束分析设备将有助于吸引和留住高质量的研究生，博士后研究员和初级教师。pi将通过咨询委员会负责日常维护、培训和调度。＊＊＊

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. ***