Facilities & Equipment
Facilities & Equipment
| Olympus BX51 visible (brightfield/darkfield)-DIC Nomarski-UV microscope with (i) MDS600 motorized X-Y Linkam fluid inclusion microthermometry stage and (ii) TS1500 Linkam high temperature melt inclusion stage for observations in visible and ultraviolet light from -190°C to 1500°C. This microscope is used for studying fluid and melt inclusions in transparent minerals. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Olympus BX53 visible/IR (to 1800 nm) microscope with FTIR600 Linkam fluid inclusion microthermometry stage for observations in visible and infrared from -190°C to 600°C. This microscope is used for studying fluid inclusions in opaque minerals that are IR transmissive. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Leitz microscope with TS1500 vacuum high temperature stage for observations in visible light under vacuum or controlled inert atmosphere from 20oC to 1500oC. This microscope is used for studying melt inclusions in transparent minerals that oxidize and alter in air. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Thermcraft clamshell furnaces/controllers and 500 cm3 Rene/Inconel reaction vessels with automated P-T-fO2 monitoring up to 400°C and 1 kbar. This technology is used for hydrothermal experimental studies of metal solubility, mineral reactions, and fluid inclusion synthesis. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Wasson ECE-Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph with TCD and 2 FID and 4 stainless steel rock crushing pistons for analyzing volatiles released from crushed rock samples (down to 0.1 g sample) for H2O, CO2, H2S, COS, and hydrocarbons (aliphatics, olefin and paraffin, xylenes, benzene) up to C6 (routinely quantified) and to C9 (qualitative) to a detection limit of 30 ppm. Carrier gases are purified before introduction into the pistons. This chromatograph is used for characterizing fluid inclusion volatile chemistry. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Buehler SimpliMet 1000 automated mounting press. This technology is used for permanently mounting geological specimens in transparent or opaque plastic resin for petrography and analysis (microprobe, SEM, etc.). Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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Struers RotoPol-35 polishing machine. This machine is used for polishing thin sections, grain mounts and other mounted sample media. |
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| Water and oil-cooled diamond blade rock saws for sample preparation: Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| PETROG automated stepping stage and PetrogLit software mounted on a Nikon Eclipse E400 Pol petrographic microscope with a Pixe-Link digital camera. Used for point counting of grains, microfossils or other objects in geological samples and for taking gridded images for mosaics covering large sample areas in thin section. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| HP DesignJet 500 colour inkjet plotter. This printer is used for preparing poster-sized print outs for research and teaching presentation. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| Leica EM CED-030 carbon coater. This machine is used for coating samples in thin carbon for electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| Lumic HC4-LM hot-cathode cathodoluminescence microscope with a Varian turbomolecular vacuum pump, Olympus BXFM focusing unit and a Kappa DX40C peltier cooled camera equipped with the Kappa camera control, operated using the DX40C-285FW software package. This microscope is used for textural mapping of zoned minerals in which trace element and major element zoning generates variable CL fluorescence, and for determining initial CL colour colour decay systematics in minerals of varying provenance. Contact: Xiang Yang/Georgia Pe-Piper |
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| Rock crushing and milling facility containing a jaw crusher, ceramic, agate and chrome steel puck mills and small grinding mills. This facility is used for preparing samples for a range of geological research including whole rock analyses. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| Leo 1450 VL SEM with LN2-free EDS detector, BSE detector, and Gatan CL detector and INCA EDS analysis and mapping software. This technology is used for imaging compositional zoning, surface features and textural analysis, and determining the composition of (by EDS, quantitative) of mounted and carbon coated geological materials. Contact: Xiang Yang |
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| Automated HS11 hydroseparator and flow/pulse rate software. This technology is used for separating small and rare grains of heavy minerals from pulverized and sized fractions of rocks and soils applying Stoke’s law. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| MTI KSL-1700X high temperature muffle furnace with molybdenum disilicide heating elements. This machine is used for heating and melting geological samples in air or a controlled inert atmosphere up to 1700oC and for homogenizing melt inclusions in igneous rocks. Contact: Jacob Hanley |
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| Dedicated (for use by geology students only) undergraduate computing facility equipped with 10 HP desktop computers each with double monitor and a wide array of word processing, computational, mapping and other geological software. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| Clean sample preparation lab containing balances, automatic sieving and weighing column, Elmasonic S300 ultrasonic cleaner for sieve cleaning, McCrone micronizing mill, and a Retsch microball mill with agate, stainless steel, ceramic and tungsten carbide ball mills. It is used for grinding, weighing and sizing geological samples. Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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| Reflected/transmitted light microscopy lab used for routine microscopy work and as an advanced teaching laboratory. The lab is equipped with 10 Nikon Eclipse 50i Pol microscopes and 10 Olympus BX41 microscopes with transmitted and reflected light capabilities and Pixe-Link digital cameras (x4). Contact: Mitchell Kerr |
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