Acquisition of a Raman Microscope

This proposal is to acquire a Raman microscope to enhance the science return of an existing Solar System Workings project entitled “Towards Quantifying Oxygen Fugacity in Solar System Materials: In Situ Multivalent Element Analyses in Pyroxene.” This equipment will become part of a multi-technique project aimed at improving and then using microanalysis to measure the redox state of multivalent elements in pyroxene group minerals. Because pyroxene minerals are ubiquitous in rocky bodies formed from igneous rocks, our results can be used to trace the evolution of oxygen in solar system materials. Raman microscopy represents a new but parallel method to the Mossbauer and X-ray absorption techniques used in the original project. Raman spectroscopy will thus enhance science return from the original proposal by adding a different comparative technique that can be developed using the same standards for all three techniques.This work is significant and highly relevant to the Solar System Workings program because it will inform questions regarding the chemical evolution of planetary interiors (mantle) over time. Constraints on oxygen fugacity will assist in understanding fundamental processes that occur throughout the Solar System, as well as those specific to individual objects and systems. Finally, because returned and meteoritic samples are dominantly igneous, placing constraints