Experimental Petrology Lab Facilities

Multianvil Apparatus

In August, 2001, we installed a 1000 ton Rockland Research press and a Walker-style octahedral multianvil.  Efforts thus far have focussed on 18 mm octahedral cell (pictured below), which is now calibrated to 10 GPa.   There is also a cubic anvil module for large volume work to 6 GPa.  For photos of the delivery of the press, see this page.

                   
 

We log pressure, temperature, and a few other parameters during experiments in real time.  For a peek into what is going on now in the multianvil,
see our on-line data logger
 

Here's a picture of the press we're going to buy next year.


Piston Cylinder Apparatuses
The laboratory includes two Rockland Research end-loaded piston cylinder apparatuses pictured below.  The apparatus on the left has a 250 ton end-load, while the one on the right has a 150 ton end load.  Both are capable of pressures up to 3.5 GPa and temperatures up to 1800 °C.
 

       


Aquisitions of the multianvil and piston cylinders were made possible by generous support from the National Science Foundation and from the University of Minnesota

The laboratory also features several Deltech furnace with gas mixing capabilities.

Many of our analyses are done on the 5-channel JXA-8900 JEOL Superprobe, housed in
the UMN Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Also, the Dept. of Geology has a LA-ICP-MS facility (delivered June, 2000), featuring
a VG quadrupole ICP-MS and a 266 nm Nd-YAG laser.  The lab is supervised by Professor Bill Seyfried.
Stay tuned for a link (and for data!).

We also take full advantage of the UMN Center for Interfacial Engineering Characterization Facility,
located in the basement of our lab building, Shepherd Labs.  The characterization facility features a wide
range of SEMs, TEMs, XRD, as well as an FTIR.
Click here for a tour of the equipment
 

Last Update  January, 2004 by mmh