Facilities and EquipmentDepartment of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences

The Department houses instrumentation, equipment, and facilities that allow students to develop skill with modern tools for investigating the earth and environment. Both courses and research experiences use these tools regularly. Students and visitors can be trained on most instrumentation and equipment.

Facilities

  • Geology museum includes a range of exhibits that showcase geologic processes and features of Minnesota geology. Off-campus groups commonly schedule tours, and geology courses integrate museum exhibits into activities.
  • Geospatial Lab has 18 computers with geospatial software (e.g. ESRI ArcGIS) for in-depth analysis in courses and research
  • Sedimentology and Geomorphology Lab
  • Map room contains an archive of maps
  • Environmental Studies projects room
  • Student lounges
  • Rock preparation and archive storage room
  • Geospatial Lab (Jeff’s lab space)
  • Other facilities spaces

Instrumentation and Equipment

  • Scanning electron microscope (Thermo-Fisher Prisma ESEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) to investigate geological and biological specimens at very close range
  • X-ray diffractometer (Rigaku MiniFlex 6G XRD) to determine chemical composition and crystal structure of minerals, rocks, and fossil specimens
  • Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (Agilent 7700x ICP-MS) for elemental analysis of water and solutions
  • Large stream tables to conduct experiments about river processes and sedimentation patterns
  • UV-visible spectrophotometers (Cary 50) to analyze elemental composition of water and solutions
  • Ion chromatograph to analyze water composition
  • Total organic carbon analyzer for high-precision measurement of carbon in rock and sediment
  • GPS units to geolocate (Topcon Hiper SR sub-centimeter units, with Topcon FC-500 field controllers and licenses for Topcon’s Magnet Field and Magnet Office GPS processing software)
  • Drone for aerial mapping and creating high-resolution digital surface models (DJI Phantom 4 Pro RTK, and DJI Phantom 4 Pro UAV, both with 20-megapixel cameras. Site license for Agisoft Metashape structure-from-motion image processing) 
  • Cathodoluminescence microscope to identify of mineral phases, textures, and alteration in rocks
  • Laser diffractometer with in-line imager to measure sediment grain sizes down to the sub-micron scale and take photos of particles (Microtrac S3500, SDC and SIA)
  • Petrographic microscopes (Motic Panthera) to identify and describe of minerals in rocks and sediments
  • Rock crusher, rock saws (MK-Diamond 10 in tile saw, Covington 20 in slab saw, and 6-inch saw, rock grinder and polisher (Allied MetPrep 1) to prepare samples
  • Muffle furnace to analyze samples and perform lithium borate fusions
  • Ott MF Pro electromagnetic flow meter for estimation of stream discharge

Training and Protocols

Standard protocols

  • SEM
  • XRD
  • Stream tables
  • Laser diffractometer

Tutorial videos

  • Polisher-grinder
  • Rock saws