|
|
Lab Facilities
Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer
 We have a VG Sector machine with 5 Faraday cups and a Daly detector. We analyse Nd, Sr and Pb isotopes using this machine.
ICP-MS Lab
We have complete access to the in-house state-of-the-art ICP-MS lab for trace element analysis and Hf-isotope analysis.
Ultra-Clean Lab
Our renovated Ultra-Clean Lab has three rooms, each of which has air pressure controls and alarms. It also has a Perchloric Acid Fume Hood, a Laminar Flow hood, and a Double Laf Bench in addition to a litany of rock sample preparation equipment, acid distillation units, and much,much more.
X-ray Diffractometer
We have an XDS2000 Scintag Automated Powder X-ray diffractometer. This machine is used both a teaching and research tool. The engineering departments also use this machine to check for failure in metals.
Petrographic Microscopes
The department has 15 petrographic scopes used in teaching laboratories in Optical Mineralogy, Petrology and Sedimentary Petrology. Thin Sections such as the one shown below are studied using a state-of-the-art Nikon polarizing microscope with a camera attachment. This microscope can magnify a thin section up to 650 times.
Rock Preparation and preparing Thin-Sections
We have facilities for bulk rock crushing and saws for rock cutting available. We also have thin sectioning equipment. Gerry Kloc is the technician who handles these aspects.
Computer Lab
A wide range of laboratory computers are available for research purposes, including many specialized software packages such as MELTS, ISOPLOT and other thermodynamic modelling programs to study partial melting phenomena.
|
|
