PETER BUSECK

Regents' Professor
Ph.D., Columbia University, 1962

  Office: PSF-648  Lab: C-154, F677
  Phone: (480)965-3945  
  Fax: (480) 965-2747
  Email: pbuseck@asu.edu

 Dr. PETER BUSECK's Lab or Group Website

Research and Teaching Interests

The activities of my research group include (1) the development and application of electron-beam instruments to the study of nanoparticles in the environment and their effects on atmospheric geochemistry and air quality, (2) the study of traces of earliest life in the solar system and the origin and character of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, and (3) the study of crystal defects in minerals at the atomic level using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

1. Environmental/Analytical Geochemistry: Aerosols exert important but only partly understood effects on environmental quality, global climate change, cloud formation, and health. We are using electron microscopy and spectroscopy to analyze aerosol particles from around the globe in order to determine their chemical and physical properties. This research is typically done as part of international experiments involving ground-, ship-, aircraft-based and remote-sensing satellite measurements in collaboration with scientists at government laboratories and other universities. We have recently sampled in South Africa, Namibia, the Middle East, Japan, Europe, and the tropics. (Support: NASA)

2. Astrobiology/Cosmochemistry. We are developing new tomographic and holographic electron microscope methods to study nanoparticles like those used as evidence for past life on Mars. Our long-range goal is to develop and apply advanced methods of electron microscopy to identify nanoscale remains of life. We are simultaneously studying a wide range of cultured and wild strains of bacteria to better understand microorganisms that might resemble primitive life forms. Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are among the most primitive materials in the solar system and contain the keys to many long-standing problems in cosmochemistry. We are studying their mineralogy and geochemistry primarily with electron-beam techniques in order to understand the early history of the solar system. (Support: NASA)

3. Solid State Geochemistry/Mineralogy. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is extremely powerful for studying the chemistry and structure of crystalline materials. We can observe small irregularities and crystal defects in minerals and relate these to their geological histories. Chemical reactions, “frozen” while still in progress, can be observed and thus mechanisms of reaction understood. Emphasis is being placed on problems of order-disorder, non-stoichiometry, modulated structures, and other deviations from ideality in crystals. (Support:NSF,NASA)

Publications

"Medium-range order in molecular materials: Fluctuation electron microscopy for detecting fullerenes in disordered carbons," G. Zhao, P.R. Buseck, A. Rougee, and M.M.J. Treacy, Ultramicrosc. 109 177-188 (2009)

"Lithium isotope analysis of olivine by SIMS: Calibration of a matrix effect and application to magmatic phenocrysts," D.R. Bell, R.L. Hervig, P.R. Buseck, and S. Aulbach, Chem. Geol. 258 5-16 (2009)

"Nanoparticles in the atmosphere," P.R. Buseck and K. Adachi, Elements 4 389-394 (2008)

"Nanometer-scale complexity, growth, and diagenesis in desert varnish," L.A.J. Garvie, D.M. Burt, and P.R. Buseck, Geology 36 215-218 (2008)

"Internally mixed soot, sulfates, and organic matter in aerosol particles from Mexico City," K. Adachi and P.R. Buseck, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8 MILAGRO/INTEX-B Special Issue, 6469-6481 (2008)