This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a table-top powder X-ray Diffractometer. This powder X-ray Diffractometer analyses solid materials using X-rays to identify their internal composition and crystallographic structure. Successful research conducted with this instrument enables investigators to identify the sources of the minerals in sediments from deep-sea cores collected in a variety of ocean basin worldwide and in regions surrounding hydrothermal black smokers. The Diffractometer is integral part of the undergraduate and graduate students Geology curriculum at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University and other regional campuses and research institution in the area including the University of California Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and California State University Monterey Bay. Analysis of data done in this instrument will inform several master student dissertations at all these institutions. The instrument is also integrated in several outreach programs with local schools.
The X-Ray Diffractometer provides a fundamental tool for research and education. It benefits provenance and paleoclimate studies on deep-sea cores collected by the International Ocean Discovery Program in the Northwest Australian, Papua New Guinea and Chilean Margins. It is a key analytical tool for studies on silica diagenesis and associated authigenic precipitates in the Gulf of California. The instrumentation is also used for clay mineral analyses on cores form the Axial Seamount to determine the origin of hydrothermal mineral/volcanic glass deposits and for bulk mineralogy analyses of sediment surrounding a hydrothermal black smoker field on the northern East Pacific Rise (Alarcon Rise). The instrument also supports various projects that include the mineralogic interpretation of X-ray fluorescence data from deep-sea cores, mineralogic analysis of cores collected by Remotely Operated Vehicles from cold seeps, mud volcanoes and scheletal carbonates, mineralogic analyses of fish otoliths and changes in coralline algae mineralogic characteristics in relation to ocean acidification.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
