Labs & Facilities
Modern laboratory facilities are an integral part of our research program in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Andrew Quickall ADV '08 working in a glovebox.
Departmental Resources
The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is equipped with a number of multi-user facilities, including a computer lab for remote sensing, GIS, and modeling techniques, a sample preparation and characterization laboratory (e.g, rock-cutting and sample preparation equipment, petrographic microscopes, XRD, and SEM-EDS), and a wide variety of field equipment. The nearby Baker Library supports Earth and Planetary Science research through extensive collections of online and print journals, geologic maps, major reference works, book collections, and a tremendous support staff.
Earth and Planetary Sciences Laboratories
The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is well equipped with many modern research facilities. These currently include a variety of thermal ionization and gas source isotope ratio mass spectrometers, inductively coupled plasma and optical emission mass spectrometers, gas and liquid chromatographs with isotope ratio mass spectrometers, infrared spectrometers, magnetometers, scanning electron microscopes, and research-grade petrographic microscopes. These instruments and others are described in their respective lab pages below.
Fallout RadioNuclide Analytics
- A facility led by Research Scientist Landis and Professor Renshaw, for measuring modern change to atmosphere, forest ecosystems, physical landscapes, and rivers.
- A facility led by Dr. Hawley to study the physical properties of snow and ice.
- A facility led by Dr. Osterberg for ice core processing, sampling, and analysis.
- A facility led by Dr. Slotznick for characterizing the composition and magnetism of Earth materials.
- A facility led by Dr. Strauss for sample characterization and mineral separation.
Planetary Data Analysis and Visualization Lab
- A facility led by Dr. Palucis for performing analyses of planetary surface processes using advanced computing.
Planetary Surface Dynamics Lab
- A facility led by Dr. Palucis for the examination of sediment transport.
- A facility led by Dr. Kelly for cosmogenic nuclide dating and sediment core analysis.
- A facility led by Dr. Sharma for radiogenic isotopes.
- A facility led by Dr. Lacroix for studying soil redox heterogeneity and soil carbon, nutrient, and contaminant cycling.
- A facility led by Dr. Feng for stable isotope geochemistry.
Trace Elements and Analysis Core
- A facility led by Dr. Jackson for major and trace element geochemistry.
Earth and Planetary Sciences Core Facilities
- A shared facility that includes XRD, SEM and ICP-OES resources.
- A rock and soil processing facility for general use.
- A laboratory with computers and software for remote sensing and GIS.
Mineral Collections
- An online database of mineral and rock samples that is currently accessible on-campus only. Please contact Ed Meyer with research related questions.
- A set of high performance computing laboratories with specialized software.
- A laboratory for thin section analyses and collection of petrographic data.
Dartmouth College Core Facilities
- The map room on the 2nd floor of Berry Library
- The main college library
- A Dartmouth College general user facility
Trace Elements and Analysis Core
- A facility led by Dr. Jackson for analytical geochemistry and trace element analysis and speciation.