Microorganisms interact with their environment as they produce and and consume dissolved compounds that will therefore become depleted or enriched in their surrounding, mainly in the pore water. Analysis of dissolved compounds is therefore a prerequisite for understanding microbial activity in geologic settings. Another major focus of our work in on direct detection of microbial turnover via the use of radioisotopes as those offer unsurpassed sensitivity. As microbial abundance and activity …

This integrated laboratory suite is designed for studying the formation of nature-inspired and synthetic mineral phases, and their interactions with nutrients and contaminants. It is equipped with two anaerobic chamber workstations, small-scale chemostat reactor, Schlenk Line, setup for liquid degassing to remove O2, sample autodiluter for trace element analysis and standard chemical laboratory equipment such as analytical balances, centrifuges, fume hoods, hotplate stirrers, shaking …

The Omics Lab is currently equipped with all facilities to carry out DNA extractions, polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. Current research includes the biodiversity and functions of cryophilic microbiomes with the focus on snow and ice algal communities.

Processes related to the solvents extraction of snow and ice algae or particles are conducted in the Organic Microbial Geochemistry Lab. These processes are done in combination with ultrasonic bath, shaking, and solid phase extraction. Evaporation of organic extracts using nitrogen or argon gas, as well as various intermediate steps such as milling, acidification and filtration are also carried out in this lab. The subsequent analysis is done with the [Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon Analyzer …

The sediment processing laboratory is a space for preparing marine and non-marine sedimentary samples for microscopy and other analyses, which require individual components or fabric specific analysis (e.g., Mass Spectrometry, trace metals, isotope studies…). Preparation methods include separating and picking of biogenic particles, thin section dying techniques, sieving for granulometry, and creating smear slides and acetate peels.

Soil samples collected in the study area are placed in a plastic bag on site, sealed and labelled with a unique sample label. After sample storage, some pre-treatments have to be carried out before the physico-chemical investigation. Pre-treatment includes sample splitting, drying, sieving (< 2 mm for fine soil, see Soil Laboratory - Particle Size Analysis) and digestion. The sample is divided by a riffle divider or by quartering to the desired quantity. The samples are either dried in air …

In this lab the soil physical and thermal properties of undisturbed and artificial samples (i.e. porosity, thermal and hydraulic conductivity) are analyzed. The applications comprise calibration, testing and quality control of meteorological and soil physical sensors for polar environments in long-term observations. The work done here serves as experimental bridge between field observations and numerical modelling; testing and unravelling complex physical processes.

General applications in the soil physics lab comprise soil sample preparation, particle size analysis and estimation of soil moisture content.