Clean Laboratory for Cosmogenic Nuclides

Within HELGES, we have more than 100 m² of clean lab space is available for separation of meteoric and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides. We prepare wide-ranging sample substrates for meteoric cosmogenic nuclides (e.g. rocks, sediments, soils, river water, seawater, plants) and mainly quartz for terrestrial (in situ) cosmogenic nuclides (mainly 10Be and 26Al).  Such clean lab methods are couple to mineral separation labs. The clean lab features other essential infrastructure like a centrifuge, ultrasonic bath, microbalance, hotplates etc. Low blanks and optimized methodologies means that AMS measurements of 10Be(meteoric)/9Be isotope ratios of routinely 1x10-14 are possible on 0.2 g of solid material and on 200 mL of river water.  After purification, the cosmogenic nuclides are sent to the accelerator mass spectrometer in Cologne for measurement. Stable 9Be and other elements are analysed in-house using our Optical ICP-MS.

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