9405881 Wright This award provides one-half of the funds required for the repair of a thermal ionization mass spectrometer operated in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the William Marsh rice University. Rice University is committed to providing the remaining funds necessary for the repair. The instrument is heavily used in analytical measurements of uranium-lead isotopes, trace elements and isotopic tracers such as strontium and neodymium in the igneous petrology and tectonic evolution research programs of several faculty members and their students at Rice. During the course of research last year a catastrophic failure of the instrument occurred after inadvertent contamination inside the vacuum. The repair will include thorough disassembly and cleaning of the instrument at the manufacturer's factory and will be guaranteed by the manufacturer. ***
