Stable Isotope Laboratory
The Stable Isotope Laboratory was established in 1981 to foster the
applications of light stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
to problems in geology and archaeology. We actively encourage student
research at the undergraduate as well as graduate level; the laboratory
has supported diverse activities ranging from surface water hydrology
to evolution of the Earth's mantle. Major areas of research emphasis
now include paleoclimatology, global cycles, hydrology, fluid-rock
interaction, and petrology. The laboratory is an open facility and
since its inception has generated over 90,000 stable isotope determinations
on samples of interest to industry and academia.
MASS SPECTROMETERS
Finnigan-MAT 251: HD, CO2
Commissioned: 1982, modified 1993
Permanent magnet, triple-collector CO2, HD collector, microvolume inlet system
Finnigan-MAT delta-E: HD, O2, N2, CO2
Rebuilt at the Bremen FMAT factory, 1989; recommissioned: 1989
Electromagnet configuration, multiple-sample inlet system, 6 fixed Faraday
collectors for CO2, N2, and O2,
Finnigan-MAT 252: HD, O2, N2, CO2
Commissioned: 1994
Electromagnet configuration, multiple-sample inlet system, GC-interface for
peak
integration mode, 6 fixed Faraday collectors for CO2, N2, and O2, separate
HD collector assembly, differentially pumped for GC-mass spectrometry
EXTRACTION LINES/SAMPLE PREPARATION FACILITIES
Fluorination lines (ClF3 or BrF5) silicate and phosphate oxygen
Carbonate oxygen and carbon line with 25-90 degrees C water bath
reaction temperatures
Water oxygen (H2O/CO2 equilibration)
Cellulose line for oxygen isotope extraction for tree-ring paleoclimatology
studies
Radio frequency and resistance furnace lines for hydrogen and carbon
extraction from minerals, fluid inclusions, whole rocks, and organic matter
Mineral preparation facilities for magnetic or heavy-liquid mineral
separations.
Binocular microscopes for micro-sampling
Gas mixing table for the preparation of isotopic standards
PERSONNEL
Professors
R.T. Gregory, PhD (1981) California Institute of Technology; BA (1974)
University of California, San Diego [email:
bgregory@mail.smu.edu]
C.J. Yapp, PhD (1980) California Institute of Technology; BS (1971) University Wisconsin [email: yapp@mail.smu.edu]
N.J. Tabor, PhD (2002) University of California,
Davis; MS (1999) University of California, Davis; BS (1996)
University of Nebraska [email: ntabor@smu.edu]
Research Associates
K.M. Ferguson, PhD (1990) Southern Methodist University; MS (1984) Arizona State University; BA (1977) Potsdam State College [email: kferg@mail.smu.edu]
I. Richards, PhD (1994) University of Tennessee; BSC[Hon.] (1985) Monash University, Australia. [email: irichard@mail.smu.edu]
Contact Us
Those interested in services provided by the Stable Isotope Laboratory should contact:
Kurt Ferguson
Email: kferg@smu.edu