In the Gas Chromatography Lab whole oil analyzes are performed with special attention to saturated hydrocarbons, highly volatile organic compounds, and lipid fractions (e.g. fatty acids, alcohols, sterols).

Pre-treatment of river sediment and soil samples for cosmogenic isotope analyses (¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al) includes purification steps to obtain pure quartz sands prior to dissolution and element separation by ion chromatography column chemistry. From sieved samples, minerals are separated by magnetic separation and/or heavy liquids, and silicate and oxide minerals are chemically separated from quartz by leaching with acids (HF, HCl, HNO₃) at elevated temperatures.

One of four worldwide iridium-strip-heaters is located in our laboratory to create homogeneous glasses out of powder with short time and high temperature impact (~2000 °C).

Within HELGES, we have an ISO 6 metal-free clean laboratory, dedicated entirely to blank-sensitive metal(loid) geochemistry. Numerous ISO 4 laminar flow hoods are available for the preparation of wide-ranging sample substrates for non-traditional stable isotope and concentration analysis, along with other essential infrastructure like a centrifuge, ultrasonic bath, microbalance, hotplates etc. Protocols established in the lab include (but are not limited to) Li, B, Mg, Si, Fe, Sr, and Nd …

Microwave Digestion System: The microwave MLS Start can be used to digest samples to be analyzed by ICP-MS or ICP-OES. Special Teflon containers allow samples and acids to be heated at elevated pressures, and therefore temperatures above the atmospheric boiling point can be reached to facilitate chemical reactions during sample dissolution. A wide variety of samples can be digested using the microwave, e.g., plants, sediments, soils, rocks, water, human/animal tissue. The systems also allows …

In order to dissolve minerals from its compound that are suitable for radiometric dating and to get rid of their adhesions in the best possible way, the stone is ground several times with the jaw crusher and the roller mill. The minerals suitable for the chosen dating methodology are separated using density differences, magnetic properties and grain shape. Subsequently, the millbase is sieved; the finer grain fraction is of interest for further processing.
The Wilfley wet-shaking hearth …

The hydrothermal laboratory is equipped with horizontal and vertical cold-seal pressure vessels for the synthesis of crystals or glasses or to study interactions between minerals/rocks, melts, and fluids at hydrostatic conditions. The hydrothermal lab comprises three lines: 200 MPa line, 500 MPa line and rapid quench line.

In principle, an internally heated pressure vessel (IHPV) consists of a thick-walled pressure vessel sealed by closure plugs at the ends. In addition, there is a pressure inlet/outlet as well as several electrical leads into the vessel for power supply to and temperature control of the internal furnace. The equipment is particularly designed for experimental studies at medium to high temperatures (currently up to 1250 °C) and pressures up to 10 kbar. This P-T range is inaccessible by …

The Isotope Geochemistry Labs are equipped with a clean room facility (including several low-blank chemistry laboratories (class 100), sample preparation and ion-exchange chromatography, a set up for isotope systems: Pb, U-Pb, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd as well as B and Li isotopes), two thermal ionization mass-spectrometers (TIMS) and a multi-collector mass-spectrometer with inductively coupled plasma source (MC-ICP-MS).

Compound-specific isotope analysis is applied to obtain information on isotope ratios (δ¹³C, δD) of defined organic matter.
Gas chromatography coupled to isotope ratio mass spectrometry is applied to determine compound-specific isotope ratios (δ¹³C, δD) of hydrocarbons in crude oils, gas samples and organic extracts from sediments, rocks, soils, water, plants and microorganisms to (1) investigate biogeochemical processes such as biodegradation of petroleum, (2) evaluate origin and fate of …