Program: GS-2007B-Q-209

NGC 6712 is the only globular cluster whose mass function decreases with decreasing mass. With an orbit penetrating deep into the bulge, tidal forces have stripped away a substantial fraction of low mass stars. While every well studied globular cluster exhibits large star-to-star light element abundance variations (O, Na, Mg, and Al), these abundance patterns have never been observed in field stars. We propose to use Gemini-S/Phoenix to obtain high resolution, high S/N infrared spectra to perform "chemical tagging" of the tidally disrupted globular cluster NGC 6712. Detailed chemical abundances will place strong constraints upon (a) the fraction of field stars that come from globular clusters and/or (b) the types of globular clusters that may populate the disk and halo.