This award provides approximately one-third of the funds required to upgrade the X-ray analysis and computer automation systems attached to the electron microprobe installed at the Institute for Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico. The remaining costs of the upgrade will be equally shared by the University and an award from NASA's program for Planetary Materials and Geochemistry. The upgraded electron microprobe laboratory will be open to researchers at the University of New Mexico. The enhanced microanalytical capabilities of the probe are needed for a variety of projects including the analysis of meteorite materials, drill core samples returned from the Katmai, Alaska and Long Valley, California scientific drilling projects, studies of iron formations in Brazil, and research in experimental petrology.
