This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program grant supports acquisition of a powder x-ray diffractometer (XRD) to support research and research education at Rutgers University Newark. The XRD will support the research programs of six groups in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences (DEES) at Rutgers-Newark (RN) and the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick. Research will entail characterization of fine grained mineral phases in soils, sediments, and aerosols for studies of: 1) autochthonous biomineralization processes in soils and mineral transformations that regulate the release and speciation of heavy metals (e.g., Arsenic, Uranium); 2) mineralogical controls of eolian Fe transport to the world's oceans and its effect on primary productivity; 3) controlled experiments of the electromagnetic signatures of mixed mineral materials; 4) mineralogical process influence on methanogenesis in high latitude peat soils; and 5) studies of soil mineral influence on forest ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycling. Students will be trained in methods of XRD-based phase identification and crystallographic structure refinement and will use the XRD for regional studies of urban impacted ecosystems and soils. Rutgers-Newark has been consistently ranked over the last fifteen years as the most ethnically diverse academic institution in the U.S.
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