Thermo Neptune Plus MC-ICP-MS
The department is equipped with a Thermo Neptune Plus MC-ICP-MS, installed in May 2018.
This instrument is equipped with nine Faraday detectors for simultaneous measurement of ion beams, and has two 1013ohm Faraday resistors to facilitate the high-precision measurement of ultra-low abundance samples. The Neptune Plus is used routinely for the stable isotopic measurements of molybdenum, cadmium, chromium, zinc, rhenium and uranium; and for the measurement of radiogenic isotope systems including hafnium, thorium, strontium and neodymium.
Current research in the department includes using these isotope systems as tracers for past environmental change, geochronology of igneous and metamorphic rocks and minerals (Rb/Sr, Sm/Nd, U/Th, Lu/Hf, U-Th-Pb) and tracing sources of water pollution. The digestion and purification of samples is undertaken in the adjacent metal-free geochemistry laboratories.
Contacts:
Anirban Basu - Lecturer in Isotope Geochemistry
Alex Dickson - Lecturer in Isotope Geochemistry
