Laboratory Facilities
Stable
C and O Isotopes
My laboratory is
set up for processing and extracting stable isotopes of carbon in organics
and C and O isotopes in carbonates. I have an extraction line for roasting
carbonates and purifying CO2 gas, and then flame sealing the CO2 in
glass tubes. The isotopic composition of the CO2 gas is determined at
the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of Kentucky under the
direction of Dr. Harry Rowe.
CO2 Extraction line and graphite stations
Radiocarbon
The
laboratory is equipped for pre-treating organic samples for radiocarbon
dating, and the extraction line is used to separate the purified CO2
gas. The lab also has four graphite lines for converting CO2 gas to
graphite targets for AMS 14C dating. We generally send our graphite
targets to the University of Arizona-NSF AMS facility.
Microdrill
A
Merchantek Microdrill for precisely collecting small samples of carbonate
from soil carbonate nodules, speleothems, and corals is also available.
This drill has a 100 micron diameter drill bit that is controlled through
a computer. Two video cameras allow for samples to be collected from
precise locations of a specimen.
Merchantek Microdrill
Geochemistry
An
HPLC ion chromatograph and a 20-channel DC Plasma spectrometer are available
for analyzing anions and cations, respectively. These instruments are
routinely used by our laboratory to quantify the relative proportions
of pedogenic salts in arid soils.