The Environmental Mineralogy Labs are equipped with a very diverse suite of spectroscopic and scattering instruments to determine material chemical composition, structure, surface area and grain size of both synthetic and natural samples. For instance,

• Our powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD) consists of two individual instruments capable of X-ray scattering analysis using both Cu (λ=1.54 Å) and Ag radiation (λ=0.56 Å) in transmission geometry. XRD can be used to analyze both crystalline …

The lab contains devices that can be used to monitor chemical and physicochemical parameters in natural and synthetic geothermal fluids. For instance,

• A versatile fluid-chemical monitoring unit (“FluMo”) has been developed that enables online and in-situ measurements of a variety of physico-chemical parameters at different surface locations of a geothermal fluid loop.
• The Fluidflow Monitor and Reactor Unit (FluMoRe), consisting of two 50 L stainless steel vessels, enables storage and …

In our lab we use a FTIR-spectrometer Vertex 80v manufactured by Bruker. It is equipped with various light sources, beam splitters and detectors to operate from 25.000 cm⁻¹ to 80 cm⁻¹. The maximum resolution is 0.25 cm⁻¹. An attached IR-microscope (Bruker Hyperion 2000) provides the possibility to perform unpolarized and polarized measurements on single crystals in the energy range of 25.000 cm⁻¹ to 420 cm⁻¹ with a spatial resolution of 20 µm.
Additional equipment: Heating/cooling stage …

In the laboratory for fluid physics, various devices are used to determine the properties of geothermal fluids: density, viscosity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, sonic velocity.

The GFZ spectroscopy laboratory supports advances in optical and thermal remote sensing for the definition of new sensors for spaceborne missions, for the development of methodologies toward improved surface properties characterization, and for the development of standards and protocols. We are focusing on the geosphere applications (minerals and soils), agricultural areas, and arid regions of the world (deserts, arctic) that are subject to erosion and degradation under climate change.