Analog Mineralogy and Isotope Laboratory (N275)

Lab Manager: Steve Bates and Christine Knudson

This portion of the lab houses a Setaram TG/DSC/EGA system coupled to a Pfeiffer MS. This instrument allows for the concurrent measurement of mass loss or gain, thermal decomposition, and the identification of evolved gasses (e.g., CO₂, H₂O, SO₂) from heated samples using the mass spectrometer under He gas flow. This instrument supports the analyses of rocks, minerals, and mineral mixtures under MSL SAM-like conditions.

The stable isotope analytical facility consists of two Thermo Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) Instrument Suites:

1. Thermo Scientific™Delta V Plus IRMS with:
   • Thermo Scientific™ Trace Ultra GC with Isolink system for compound specific isotope analysis of organics
   • Thermo Scientific™ Thermo Flash EA Isolink for analysis of solid and liquid samples by combustion and HTC (High Temperature Conversion)
   • Thermo Scientific™ Gas Bench for headspace sampling of atmospheric gasses
   • Thermo Scientific™ Precon device used for atmospheric trace gas measurements including CH₄ and N₂O
   • Thermo Scientific™ ConFlo IV — a universal continuous flow control interface between the IRMS and two sample preparation devices
   • Additional focus quadrupole for enhanced detection limits
2. Thermo Scientific Delta V Advantage IRMS with:
   • Thermo Scientific™ ConFlo IV — a universal continuous flow control interface between the IRMS and two sample preparation devices:
   • Thermo Scientific™ GasBench device — on-line gas preparation and introduction system used for high-precision isotope and molecular ratio determination of gaseous samples via headspace sampling. Applications include analysis of water equilibration, carbonates, and atmospheric gasses
   • Thermo Scientific™ Flash HT Plus Elemental Analyzer — Combustion and High temperature conversion (HTC) device used for concentration measurements and gas preparation for IRMS analysis of a wide range of solid and liquid samples.

Additionally, the lab has a Picarro L2130-i High Precision Isotopic Water Analyzer for hydrogen and oxygen isotopic analysis of water and a Picarro G2201-i CO₂ and CH₄ isotope analyzer for lab use and field deployment. The facility also has a Thermo Trace 1310 GC coupled with ISQ mass spectrometer and FID for compositional analysis and quantification. An autosampler feeds one GC inlet and the other is connected to a CDS 6200 Pyroprobe. The facility supports studies of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen isotope systematics in planetary analog materials including those collected in the field and those generated by experiments. In addition, this facility supports instrument development for stable isotope measurements and molecular identification and quantification.

Eltra CW800M H₂O/CO₂ analyzer for quantification of total water and CO₂ in bulk materials.