The (U-Th-Sm)/He lab is equipped with an Alphachron automated system for helium measurement. We routinely measure 2 laser pans of 24 aliquots each in automatic mode in 1 week. We collaborate with PD Dr. Johannes Glodny in section 3.1 at the German Research Centre for Geosciences; he is responsible for sample dissolution and analysis of U, Th and Sm using ICP-MS. At present, we analyze both apatites and zircons.

The Potsdam ⁴He/³He Thermochronology Laboratory at the University of Potsdam, Germany is dedicated to high-precision measurement of ⁴He and ³He noble gas abundances and isotopic ratios (i.e. ⁴He³He) in U-bearing accessory minerals such as apatite.
The laboratory is equipped with a Helix SFT Thermo Scientific mass spectrometer recently acquired and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The Helix SFT is connected to a Thermo extraction and purification Prepline dedicated to mineral …

Acid digestions of solid samples for main and trace element analysis are carried out in a modern digestion laboratory with special digestors that are also suitable for working with hydrofluoric and perchloric acid. The samples can be prepared as open digestions using the DigiPrep heating block system (SCP Science) or as closed digestions using the Multiwave 5000 microwave reaction platform (Anton Paar).
The Vitriox Electric 4+ fusion unit from Fluxana is available for the production of glass …

The Bubble Lab is an experimental laboratory to study bubble processes in hydrothermal and volcanic terrain. Earthquake and volcano processes are commonly accompanied by migration of fluids and deformation of fluid systems and their interaction with the host rock, including fracturing, fluid-filled crack growth and diking. The coupling between fluids and rock works in both ways: On one side, changes in the state of fluid-rock systems are thought to encourage or discourage tectonic earthquakes, …

Jaw crushers are available for crushing rocks and other geological samples. Various mills (vibrating disc mill, McCrone mill) are available for further processing, which pulverize the granulates for further analysis.

The Electron Microprobe lab offers non-destructive chemical analyses of solids using a JEOL JXA-8200 Electron Probe Microanalyzer (EPMA) with an EDX detector. The microprobe is capable of quantitatively measuring the abundance of all elements from C to U using five wavelength-dispersive spectrometers (WDS) and an energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (EDX) for rapid analyses. This analytical technique combines micron-scale chemical analyses with scanning electron microscopy and is capable of …

The lab is equipped with a Leica DMR microscope with a drawing tube, a Kinetek computer-driven stage, a Calcomp digitizing tablet, and FT Stage software. A video camera is mounted on the triaxial head of the microscope, allowing a group of people to observe a slide simultaneously. At present, we are only analyzing apatites. However, we plan on analyzing zircons in the future.

Simulating geodynamic processes is a challenging task because of the non-linearity and cross-scale nature of tectonic processes. A great challenge is the multispectral character of lithosphere deformation ranging from earthquake rupture (seconds) to tectonic evolution (Millions of years). At the same time, deformation mechanisms determined at the micro-scale (rock friction and crystal plasticity) are responsible for the motion and internal deformation of tectonic plates. This requires a …

The laboratory for microscopy focuses on the specific requirements of microfacies analysis of lake sediments, but also offers a wide range of possibilities for other applications. Sedimentological, petrographic and microfacies analyses on all kinds of covered and uncovered thin sections and polished sections with transmitted and incident light are performed.

In our laboratory, the stable isotopes of the light elements carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) in continental geoarchives such as lake sediments and speleothems as well as in precipitation and surface water are measured. Stable isotopes are non-radioactive nuclides of an element with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons and thus different atomic masses. This results in different physical properties that can lead to a shift in the isotope ratios in a …