Overview

The Cosmogenic Nuclide Laboratory is a dedicated Laboratory that produces samples ready for the measurement of cosmogenic isotopes. The Laboratory has:

• Two clean rooms with filtered air and positive pressure
• Two fume cupboards with wash-down facilities rated for HF and HClO₄
• Four large volume ultrasonic cleaners for acid etching of quartz
• Orbital shaker table
• Centrifuge
• Analytical balance with 5 digit precision and two with 4 digit precision
• Recirculating fume cupboard for use with cation and anion exchange columns

In addition, users of the cosmogenic laboratory have access to school facilities shared with palaeoenvironmental research groups, which include:

• Mineral separation lab with magnetic separator, sieve sets, drying oven, and facilities for heavy mineral separations using non-toxic polylithium tungstate compounds
• Fume cupboard with wash-down facilities
• Laminar flow hood
• Solaar M5 atomic absorption spectrometer with 40 position autosampler and graphite furnace for analysis of Be and Al at sub-ppm concentrations

Rock crushing, XRD, XRF, SEM, electron microprobe, and ion probe are available at the Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh Kings Buildings campus, about 2 miles from our lab.