The TIMS U-Pb Isotope Geology Laboratory at Department of Geosciences is a self-contained functional unit that permits full processing of samples from the extraction of minerals to isotopic measurement and data evaluation.
The laboratory comprises:
- Crushing room with jaw crusher, RETSCH mill, and a Wilfley table.
- A mineral separation place with a standard Frantz isodynamic separator for a Free Fall treatment, a Frantz barrier separator for paramagnetic separation, and the heavy liquid set-up.
- A Krogh-style chemical laboratory for low-blank work with clean-air boxes, hot plates, ovens for dissolution and for annealing of zircons, and a two bottle distillation set-up.
- A weighing room with HEPA filtered working space and a METTLER microbalance. A picking room with a LEICA and an OLYMPUS high-resolution microscope, digital camera, and an air-abrasion set-up.
- A mass spectrometer room with a MAT 262 multicollector instrument, with 8 Faraday cups, 1 Ion Counting Secondary Electron Multiplier, and Spectromat running software, together with clean air boxes, and filament mounting and degassing unit.
For CL and BSE imaging the TIMS-lab has access to the scanning electron microscope (SEM-laboratory) or the Electron Microprobe Laboratory at Dept. of Geosciences. Follow links to learn more about these two insfrastructures: