9303948 Evans This award provides one-half the funding necessary for the purchase of an image analysis system to be installed on the electron microprobe in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Washington. The University is committed to providing the remaining funds needed for the acquisition. The electron microprobe provides quantitative elemental microanalysis with a spatial resolution of one micrometer. The capabilities of the microprobe are used by geoscience students and senior research scientists in the fields of igneous and metamorphic petrology, as well as for studies in geomorphology and paleontology. The microprobe lab is also used in a variety of studies by archeologists, astronomers (studying meteorites) and biologists (studying hard parts) at the University of Washington. The digital imaging system will greatly facilitate all of their studies by enhancing the ability to view the spatial distribution of elements with respect to sample morphology, and by quantifying the size, shape, amount and distribution of selected sample components from digitized images. ***
