9308235 Fodor This award provides one-half the funding required to modernize two items of equipment in the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the North Carolina State University. The institution is committed to providing the remaining funds needed for the project. An electron microprobe and an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer will be upgraded. Both instruments are old but functioning and will be capable of adequate performance for several more years as a result of this upgrade. The electron microprobe is widely used in the department as a tool for quantitative elemental analysis of geological samples with a spatial resolution of a micrometer, and the X-ray fluorescence system is used for bulk chemical analysis of rocks and minerals. Both instruments are needed for teaching purposes as well as graduate research projects requiring chemical analyses. ***
