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.

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