Labs & Facilities

Modern laboratory facilities are an integral part of our research program in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

  •  Andrew Quickall ADV '08 working in a glovebox.

DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES

The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is equipped with a number of multi-user facilities, including a computer lab for remote sensing, GIS, and modeling techniques, a sample preparation and characterization laboratory (e.g, rock-cutting and sample preparation equipment, petrographic microscopes, XRD, and SEM-EDS), and a wide variety of field equipment. The nearby Baker Library supports Earth and Planetary Science research through extensive collections of online and print journals, geologic maps, major reference works, book collections, and a tremendous support staff.

Earth and Planetary Sciences

Laboratories

The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is well equipped with many modern research facilities. These currently include a variety of thermal ionization and gas source isotope ratio mass spectrometers, inductively coupled plasma and optical emission mass spectrometers, gas and liquid chromatographs with isotope ratio mass spectrometers, infrared spectrometers, magnetometers, scanning electron microscopes, and research-grade petrographic microscopes. These instruments and others are described in their respective lab pages below. 

Fallout RadioNuclide Analytics

Glaciology Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Hawley to study the physical properties of snow and ice.

Ice Core Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Osterberg for ice core processing, sampling, and analysis.

Mag Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Slotznick for characterizing the composition and magnetism of Earth materials.

Mineral Separation Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Strauss for sample characterization and mineral separation.

Planetary Data Analysis and Visualization Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Palucis for performing analyses of planetary surface processes using advanced computing.

Planetary Surface Dynamics Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Palucis for the examination of sediment transport.

Quaternary Geology Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Kelly for cosmogenic nuclide dating and sediment core analysis.

Radiogenic Isotope Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Sharma for radiogenic isotopes.

Soil Biogeochemistry Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Lacroix for studying soil redox heterogeneity and soil carbon, nutrient, and contaminant cycling.

Stable Isotope Lab

  • A facility led by Dr. Feng for stable isotope geochemistry.

Trace Elements and Analysis Core

  • A facility led by Dr. Jackson for major and trace element geochemistry.
Earth and Planetary Sciences

Core Facilities

Materials Characterization

  • A shared facility that includes XRD, SEM and ICP-OES resources.

Sample Prep Laboratory

  • A rock and soil processing facility for general use.

GIS and Remote Sensing Lab

  • A laboratory with computers and software for remote sensing and GIS.

Mineral Collections

  • An online database of mineral and rock samples that is currently accessible on-campus only.

Computing Lab

  • A set of high performance computing laboratories with specialized software.

Imaging and Petrography Lab

  • A laboratory for thin section analyses and collection of petrographic data.