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We use isotope and trace element compositions to tell us about the history of
geological materials. Current research conducted in our lab includes dating the
time of sedimentation with paleosol calcite, determining the paleo-pH of
seawater,
and tracing the source of contaminants in Long Island groundwater. Our group
members include three faculty in the Department of Geosciences and graduate students from Geosciences, Anthropological Sciences, and the Marine
Science Research Center at Stony Brook. We have
analytical facilities for boron, strontium, lead and neodymium isotope studies;
rare earth element analyses; and U-Pb, Rb-Sr, and Sm-Nd dating. We have two
thermal ionization mass spectrometers: a 6-inch radius NBS mass spectrometer and
a Finnigan MAT 262 with multiple sample turret and multiple collectors. In
addition, we have a complete round of support laboratories including a rock
preparation lab, a mineral separations lab, two wet chemistry labs and a clean room
environment dedicated to low abundance Pb (and other) chemistry. We have a
separate petrography lab that includes three petrographic microscopes with a digital
camera, two luminoscopes for cathodoluminescence analysis, two dissecting
microscopes for handpicking samples, a micro-drilling set-up, and equipment for
fluid inclusion analysis.
Gil's philosophy is that the lab is a teaching facility,
giving M.S. and Ph.D. students hands-on experience in the day-to-day operation
and maintenance of a modern mass spectrometry facility. To that end we have no
full-time technical staff. Our motto is "you as the operator can fix
it!". Visitors are often shocked when they visit and find students
reducing a mass spectrometer to nuts and bolts, cleaning the whole lot, and then
reassembling it (and it WORKS!).
We have done some contract work in the past (we believe that
any geologic or environmental study can benefit from isotopic work), but we
particularly welcome visitors that are willing to come to the lab and get their
hands dirty. If you have an interest in obtaining isotopic analyses and are
willing to come visit, drop us a note.
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Contact
Information
Isotope
Lab
C/o
Dr. Gilbert Hanson
Department
of Geosciences
Earth
and Space Sciences Building, Room 317
Stony
Brook University
Stony
Brook, NY 11794-2100
Lab
phone: (631) 632-8294
Dept.
fax: (631) 632-8240
Email:
gilbert.hanson@stonybrook.edu
If
you are interested in joining our group as a graduate student, please email Iris
Roth, the graduate secretary, for an application.
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