9709572 Mao This award provides partial (76%) funding for the acquisition of equipment (a solid state germanium detector and two argon ion laser tubes) to be used in conjunction with high-pressure experiments on materials of the Earth's mantle and core. The work is to be carried out by the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW), and CIW is committed to providing the remaining funds necessary for the acquisition. The equipment will be incorporated in experimental systems used to investigate the elasticity (leading to seismic velocities) and the equations of state of the important mineral perovskite, a magnesium-iron silicate considered to be the dominant phase in the mantle. The resulting measurements will be used to interpret seismic data in terms of models of the structure and dynamic processes of the Earth's deep interior. ***
