A new, high precision pedestal for the 250-ton hydraulic press has been installed at SEES Beamline 6BM at the Advanced Photon Source. The press is equipped with a D-DIA module and a rotational Drickamer apparatus which covers a pressure range from the crust to the lower mantle.

This SEES beamline is uniquely designed to investigate the rheological properties of minerals and rocks, in addition to straightforward phase transition and equation of state studies based on X-ray diffraction.