GV
IsoProbe TInstitute of Geography and Geology
University of Copenhagen
e-mail: robertf@geol.ku.dk
The DCIG is part of the GEOCENTER Copenhagen and has
been established as a Danish instrument center in 1992 with a country-wide
access strategy.
The DCIG is divided into a stable and a radiogneic isotope applications
part. The radiogneic isotope part is primarily composed of the two following
facilities:
VG 54-IT mass spectrometer with negative ion upgrade
GV
IsoProbe T
Location in GEOCENTER
room 06-2-699d-f
Lab technician
Toby Leeper (e-mail:
tobyl@geol.ku.dk
)
Equipment
The DCIG Mass Spectrometry Laboratory currently houses two
solid source mass spectrometers
, a filament degassing apparatus, DOS-based microcomputers, and
a laminar flow bench for sample loading
. The mass spectrometers have dedicated positive and negative ion collimators.
Our thermal mass spectrometers are a Sector 54-IT (bought in 1992)
with 8 Faraday collectors and a 20-sample turret, and a new-geneartion GV
Instruments IsoProbe T system (bought in 2007) with 9 Faraday
collector and 4 channeltrons. With the axial Faraday
cup moved out of place, small ion beams may be measured using a Daly knob-photomultiplier
tandem. The instruments are routinely used for Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and U-Th-Pb
isotope analyses, and lately the analytical schemes for non-traditional stable
isotopes (Cr and Ce) are developed. In negative polarity, high abundance Os samples are commonly
analyzed using multiple faraday cups. The instruments also have an electron
multiplier which is used to measure small negative ion beams.
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Clean chemistry laboratories
Selection of facilities and equipment in the clean chemistry
laboratories of the DCIG
Location within the GEOCENTER
room 06-2-609(-13), room 06-2-681(-83), room 06-2-673(-5)
Lab assistants (laborants)
Maria Jankowski (e-mail:
mariaj@geol.ku.dk
)
Toni Larsen (e-mail: tonil@geol.ku.dk
)
Equipment
Some samples for isotopic analysis are purified in Clean Chemistry
Laboratories. The DCIG comprises 3 individual
class 1´000 rooms (supplied by HEPA-filtered air) and 1 class 10´000
laboratory, all equipped with separate class-100 (zero-particle) vented
laminar flow hoods
. Together with the establishment of the GEOCENTER,
parts of the laboratory were recently renovated and expanded. The labs
are centrally organized and the two lab assistants (laborants) are responsible
for the daily running, cleaning of recyclable teflon ware, distillation
of high purity acids, supply of disposable material, set-up and control of
reservation schemes, ordering of chemical substances, quality control etc.
The labs contain all necessary equipment for preparation, weighing,
and separation of the most commonly used elements for isotopic analyses
of geological, archeological and environmental samples. A number of relevant,
calibrated spikes are available for common use.
Presently installed separation techniques
| U-Th-Pb
element separation from conventional sample sizes (> 10 mg) U-Pb element separation from single grains or from small samples (< 10 mg), usually used for geochronology |
| Rb-Sr-REE
separation over conventional cation resin charged glass-stem columns Rb-Sr separation from small samples (SrSpec resin) |
| Sm-Nd separation
over conventional HDEHP-charged glass-stem columns REE separation over TEVA resin-charged PP columns Lu-Hf separation via flux fusion-based dissolution, Fe-hydroxide co-precipitation, cation resin-charged glass-stem columns and TEVA extraction chromatographic separation of Hf from the REEs |
| PGE separation
via Carius tube dissolution, distillation of Os into HBr, liquid extraction
of Re, and subsequent separation of the reminder of the PGEs on cation
resin-charged glass-stem columns |
| Other,
more individually designed, specific separation techniques for REEs,
Fe, Lu-Hf, Cr, Mg, Ni, Li etc. |
| Applications
involving the DCIG´s clean labs and the DCIG´s thermal ionization
mass spectrometers (TIMS) should be sent / e-mailed to Prof. Robert Frei , Institute of Geography and Geology |
