9406187 Tracy This award provides 70 per-cent of the funding required for the upgrade of the electron microprobe instrument housed and operated in the Department of Geological Sciences at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The institution is committed to providing the remaining funds necessary for this upgrade. The upgrade will provide new computer control of the instrument as well as a contamination-free vacuum pumping system. The electron microprobe at VPI is used extensively to obtain images of element distributions in geological samples with micron scale spatial resolution, requiring modern computer automation and a pumping system that will not contaminate the sample surface during long exposure to the electron beam. ***
