The department maintains various equipment for offshore studies, including high-resolution seismic and side-scan sonar equipment.
- Malvern Laser Particle Size Analyzer (LPSA) – Quickly and accurately measures grain size, from clay particles through sand size, using only small sediment samples. The LPSA is used at Rice for projects studying sediments in the Gulf of Mexico, Antarctica, and Northeast Australia.
- 60-channel, high resolution seismograph
- a ground penetrating radar system
- magnetometer