Mark K Reagan
Research
page maintained by
Mark Reagan © 2008
Facilities Available for Petrological & Geochemical Research in the University of Iowa
Alpha & Gamma Counting Facility (26 TH and B21F TH)
These rooms contain chemistry facilities and alpha- and gamma-counting detectors to allow measurement of the short-lived U-series nuclides such as 210Po, 210Pb, 228Th, and 226Ra.
Electon Microprobe Facility (26A TH)
JEOL JXA-8230 Superprobe equipped with 5 wavelength-dispersive spectrometers and 8 large-format diffracting crystals- LDE1L (1); TAPL (1); PETL (3); LIFL (3). This allows for the quantification of elemental concentrations at the single ppm level (i.e. <10 ppm). The JXA-8230 is also equipped with back-scattered electron (BSE), secondary electron (SE), and cathodoluminescence (CL) detectors for high-resolution imaging, and an energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) for rapid semi-quantitative analyses.
Quadrupole ICP-MS + laser ablation (B21G TH)
Thermo X-series II ICP-MS + collision cell NewWave 213nm laser + He ablation gas Cetac autosampler in clean housing.
Clean Laboratory (B40 TH)
This 350 sq.ft. metal-free clean laboratory has two laminar flow work stations, two fume hoods, a Millipore ultrapure water system, a separate weighing room with two Sartorious balances (Genius analytical balance and Expert top-loading balance), an Analab closed environment evaporation system, two centrifuges, an ultrasonic bath, two Savillex acid stills, five temperature-controllled hot plates, and miscellaneous other items (including Parr bombs).
General Laboratory (B35B TH)
This room is used as a general purpose laboratory for chemistry and mineral separations. It has a fume hood, a Frantz magnetic separator, furnaces for flux fusion sample digestions, a drying oven, a large, explosion-proof centrifuge, and a stand-alone laminar flow workbox for chemical separations. It also has proper windows to the outside world (a novelty for the basement rooms), allowing the lab users to truly appreciate the wonderful Iowa weather throughout all the four seasons. There is a Deltech 1-atm gas mixing furnace that we use to homogenize melt inclusions under controlled redox conditions..
Scanning Electron Microscope (B21H TH)
A Hitachi S-3400N scanning electron microscope was recently installed in the basement of Trowbridge Hall. It is operated by the University of Iowa Central Microscopy Facility. This SEM can be run in variable-pressure mode and has an EDS system for quantitative compositional analysis.
contact Central Microscopy Facility for further information.
Sample Preparation Facilities (B2 TH and B14 TH)
Rock crushing facilities are located in Room B2. This room contains a jaw crusher, a disk-grinder, a tema mill for fine powdering of samples, a sieve shaker, and an area for hand-splitting of samples. Importantly, it has an excellent air extraction system which really keeps dust levels to a minimum, thus providing a better working environment for users. This also includes a vented table top area where hand sieving of samples can be carried out under dust-free conditions.
The Geoscience Department has extensive facilities for sample mounting, thin section preparation, and sample polishing that are located in Room B14. This room contains numerous rock saws, thin section saws and grinders, sample polishers, and a drying oven.
contact Matt Wortel for further information.
Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES)
The Department of Chemistry has a new Varian 720-ES ICP-OES instrument that is available for use to determine major and certain trace element concentrations in digested rock samples.