Plasma emission spectrometrty has recently become the technique of choice for chemical analysis of rock, mineral, natural water and other geological samples where concentration of elements of interest range from over 50% to less than a part per billion. This proposal requests one half of the cost of acquiring a direct-current plasma (DCP) emission spectrometer to be operated by the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The analytical capabilities of the DCP equipment will be used for research in toxin transport (Hg, As, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu) in stream systems, scientific drilling in the Izu-Bonin basin archipelago, and the tectonic evolution and magmatism in the South China Sea basin (in collaboration with the Academia Sinica Institute of Oceanology-Guangzhou).
