Sample Preparation
EEPS has all the facilities needed for a variety of sample preparation including a large rock saw and a shatter box, along with various polishing apparatus, mini-rock saws, and strip grinders and polished thin sectioning equipment. We also have a Franz Magnetic Separator, numerous petrographic microscopes (polarized and reflected light), high precision balances, centrifuges, vortex mixers, and more.
Wet chemistry laboratories
The department operates several wet labs along with a stand-alone positive pressure, hepa-filtered clean room (class 10,000 and 1,000 environments) for preparation of samples. The clean lab (room 328) includes a hepa-filtered laminar flow hood and a perchloric hood.
Ice-Core Lab
We have a 100-sq. ft. walk-in freezer, held at -25 °C, for storage and processing of of ice cores. These ice cores contain air bubbles, trapped after years of snow accumulation, which are snapshots of the past atmosphere. We will use this important air archive to understand how the atmosphere has changed over tens of thousands of years.