9413693 Rumble This award provides one-half the funding for the acquisition of the components needed to build an ultra- violet laser microprobe for the analysis of oxygen isotope ratios in silicate and oxide minerals. The laser microprobe will be designed, built, installed, and operated in the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Carnegie Institution of Washington is committed to providing the remaining funds necessary to complete the project. The development of the laser microprobe system for in situ microanalysis of oxygen isotope concentrations is expected to make a large impact in the interpretation of stable isotope variations in geological systems by allowing the measurement of isotopic variations to be made with a spatial resolution of several micrometers, comparable to the scale on which mineral samples preserve the isotopic zoning inherited during growth. ***
