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Probing the Memory of Crystals

WHOI geologist Alison Shaw tightens the screws on a mount of small olivine crystals that she has prepared for examination in the Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility on WHOI’s Quissett Campus. Shaw is looking into the chemical composition of tiny melt inclusions—trace elements formed by volcanic processes—within the crystals. The computer screen in the background shows a schematic of the ion probe’s valves, pumps, and gauges. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)