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Geochemical and Isotope Analytics Team

Powerful Geology and Geochemistry Laboratory, Modeling

Advancing geochemical and isotopic analysis techniques to address a range of challenges across the Earth system with relevance to national security.

The Geochemical and Isotope Analytics Team (GAIA) team characterizes challenging geochemical and isotope samples from the Earth system including water, air and rocks. The team’s expertise includes developing and applying developing state-of-the-art instruments and analytical techniques.

Our team comprises experts in geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, analytical chemistry, and trace gas measurements. Our research focuses on observations and modeling relevant to carbon dioxide sequestration, rare earth elements and critical minerals, renewable energy and underground nuclear explosion geochemistry.

Primary Expertise

  • Environmental isotopes
  • Ecology
  • Nuclear forensics
  • Noble gas
  • Trace metal and major cation analysis
  • Tracers, explosives analysis
  • Anion analysis
  • Alkalinity measurement
  • Mineral identification
  • Metal concentration analysis
  • Stable carbon-13/carbon-12 ratio method
  • Radiocarbon-amine LSC and trace radiocarbon AMS method

What We Do

The GAIA team operates extensive laboratory capabilities in the Geology and Geochemistry Research Laboratory, which is equipped with capabilities for isotope geochemistry and wet chemistry analysis, and mineral identification. Specific analytical capabilities and equipment include: 

  • Stable isotope laboratory equipped with stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers for conventional stable isotope analysis and multiply-substituted isotopologues, such as Thermo 253 Ultra, Finnigan MAT253, Thermo Delta V and Micromass Prism III. 
  • Wet chemistry facility equipped with a PerkinElmer ICP-MS/OES coupled with seaFAST autosampler, HPLC, TOC, IC, UV-VIS, and fluorimetry. 
  • Trace radiocarbon prep-system and rapid radiocarbon LSC analysis: CEGS, Quantulus, Hidex 300S
  • XRD/XRF and rock preparation facility for mineralogy identification and percentages/whole rock chemistry.

FEATURED RESEARCH

  • Underground nuclear explosion geochemistry
  • Renewable energy and carbon dioxide sequestration
  • Critical mineral and rare earth element geological characterization, modeling and extraction