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Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

3 EES students in lab coats

Research Facilities

Departmental Laboratories and Analytical Facilities

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is housed in Vanderbilt’s Stevenson Science Center complex and shares analytical equipment with the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Chemistry and Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering. Experimental and analytical facilities are readily accessible to both faculty and graduate students.

Major Analytical Equipment

Scanning Electron Microscopy:

  • Tescan Vega3 LMU LaB6 Scanning Electron Microscope, capable of conventional high-vacuum and high-pressure operation up to 2000 Pa; equipped with Tescan secondary (SE), low-vacuum secondary (LVSTD), back-scattered (BSE) electron, and panchromatic cathodoluminescence (CL) detectors, for topographic and compositional imaging at resolution down to <10 nm (installed Fall 2011)
  • Oxford AZtecEnergy Advanced Microanalysis System equipped with an X-Max 50 large area Energy Dispersive (EDS) Silicon-Drift Detector integrated with AZtecHKL Advanced Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) system equipped with NordlysNano detector, including forward scattered-detectors; capable of qualitative and quantitative compositional analysis, image capture, image centric analysis, x-ray mapping and line scanning using EDS, and also phase identification, phase and grain mapping using combined EDS and EBSD (installed Fall 2011)
  • Gatan MonoCL4 cathodoluminescence (CL) system equipped with integrated high-efficiency collection optics and direct optical coupling to a monochromator mounted on the microscope chamber, for high-resolution CL imaging and spectroscopy (installed Fall 2011)

Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry:

  • Thermo Scientific iCAP Q Quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS) equipped with QCell for Kinetic Energy Discrimination and Low Mass Cut-Off interference removal, capable of analyzing geomaterials for trace-elements in ppm to sub-ppm concentrations, and also select isotopic measurements, including U-Pb geochronology of zircon and titanite; appropriate standards, computer, and software for data reduction available (installed Spring 2013)
  • Photon Machines Analyte.Excite-WH Ultra-Short Pulse 193 nm Excimer Laser Ablation (LA) system for laser ablation analysis of geomaterials using spots 5-120 μm in diameter, equipped with HelEx2 Volume Cell for fast washout times, and Variable Rotating Aperture option for using rectangular ablation areas (installed Spring 2013)

X-ray Computer Tomography:

  • North Star Imaging ImagiX Computer Tomography System equipped with 2,000 x 1,600 pixels Varian Paxscan detector, microfocus 130 kV sealed x-ray source, hardware and software for 2D and 3D imaging and processing capable of radiography and tomography of geomaterials with pixel or voxel sizes down to 5 µm (installed Fall 2015)

Other Available Equipment

Tescan Vega 3 LM Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope with Tescan low-vac secondary electron, cathodoluminescence, Oxford X-max 50 mm2 EDS, Oxford EBSD, and Gatan MonoCL detectors, along with sample preparation equipment including coater/sputtering system and EBSD-quality polisher.  To schedule time, view the calendar and contact the SEM administrators.

  • Experimental petrology lab includes high-temperature furnaces, piston cylinder apparatus, hydrothermal diamond anvil cell, four cold seal pressure vessel systems, fluid inclusion heating/cooling stage
  • Our lab resources also include a Thermo Delta V Plus Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with a GasBenchII and an Element Analyzer for analysis of light stable isotopes in carbonates and organic matter, a Picarro L2130-i for the analysis of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of water, Class 1000 clean wet chemistry lab with laminar flow benches for chemical preparation of environmental samples, CM2 and Sherline micromills for microsampling of carbonate materials, and Syp water autosamplers for field sampling of cave waters
  • Environmental equipment includes a portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, Teledyne ISCO automatic water sampler, Decagon TDR device, Picarro G2201i wavelength scanning-cavity ringdown spectrometer with Eosense eosAC Autochamber to measure CO2 and CH4 gas concentrations and carbon isotope compositions and fluxes, loggers for light intensity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pressure/depth, and a YSI ProDSS sonde to measure pH, temperature, depth, conductivity, ORP, and turbidity
  • Fluid dynamics and sediment transport laboratory with stream table
  • particle settling tanks and a specialized "fluid intrusion" tank
  • high-speed and lapse-rate digital cameras controlled by a high-performance work station
  • Geotek multi-sensor core logger featuring magnetic susceptibility, core density by gamma attenuation, and a multi-spectral digital camera
  • Malvern Mastersizer 3000 laser-diffraction particle-size analyzer
  • Two Ortec planar gamma detectors for radionuclide geochronology
  • Optical microscopy lab with Zeiss Axioskop transmitted and reflected-light petrographic microscope and Zeiss Stemi 2000 stereoscope, equipped with digital imaging system
  • Petrography lab with transmitted and reflected-
  • light optical microscopes and projection equipment
  • Mineral separation facilities including Franz magnetic separator, heavy liquids, stereoscopes and glassware
  • Sample preparation lab with rock saws, rock chipping and milling equipment
  • Equipment for scaled tank experiments using viscous liquids
  • We are a member of the Hancock Biological Station consortium on Kentucky Lake, which has a full complement of field and analytical equipment for collecting and analyzing sediment and biological samples, as well as aquaria and greenhouses
  • Department laboratory includes binocular microscopes, fossil collections, and X-radiography unit for burrow analysis
  • Our lab resources also include a Thermo Delta V Plus Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with a GasBenchII and an Element Analyzer for analysis of light stable isotopes in carbonates and organic matter, a Picarro L2130-i for the analysis of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of water, Class 1000 clean wet chemistry lab with laminar flow benches for chemical preparation of environmental samples, CM2 and Sherline micromills for microsampling of carbonate materials, and Syp water autosamplers for field sampling of cave waters
  • Jaw Crusher
  • Disc Mill
  • Sieve Shaker
  • Density Separations with Lithium Heteropolytungstate
  • Frantz magnetic separator
  • Surfactant separations
  • Wet lab for chemical dissolution and purification of samples

 

  • Laser Ablation ICP-MS and TGA-MS
  • Powder X-ray Diffractometer with high-temperature furnace attachment
  • Ion and Gas chromatographs and TOC analyzer
  • Eight alpha detectors for radionuclide analyses
  • GPS units with integrated topographic map software
  • GIS lab with large format digitizers, scanners, plotter
  • networked microcomputers and server
  • Worden gravimeter

Research CORE Facilities at Vanderbilt

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/vinse/facilities/capabilities_analytical.php

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/mderfh/instrumentation/

Facilities Available Outside Vanderbilt

Earth and Environmental Sciences collaborates with several programs at other major universities and national laboratories. Research facilities and equipment available to our faculty and students include:

  • SHRIMP (Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe) at Stanford University
  • Ion Microprobe at UCLA
  • Argonne National Laboratory