This award will provide 45 per cent of the funds necessary to purchase an automated, wave-length dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer system to be installed in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii. The remaining funds will be provided by the institution. The new instrument is to replace an antiquated and severely limited instrument which is incapable of meeting the research needs of the geochemistry group at the University of Hawaii. The spectrometer is capable of routine analysis for major and trace elements in a wide range of natural materials. The active research projects which will use the new machine heavily include studies of the Galapagos ocean-spreading center's failure and propagation mechanisms, detailed monitoring of petrochemical changes in eruptions of Kilauea Volcano, and the geochemistry of the very fast spreading segments of the East Pacific Rise.
