The Solid Earth Geochemistry Lab

The Lab

The Langmuir group occupies 3,000 square feet of refurbished lab space in Hoffman Labs where sample preparation, digestion and analyses are performed for trace element and isotope analyses. The space also houses a two Thermo inductively coupled mass spectrometers, one of which is connected to a Resolution Excimer laser.  Using a strip furnace and the new laser we can now determine efficiently the entire suite of major and trace elements on igneous samples. 

instrument lab

Instrument Lab

Trace element analysis is carried out by quadrupole ICP-MS (Thermo Electron, X-Series ICP-MS with CCT) and data reduction is carried out in house using multiple independently calibrated internal standards.

Read More

chemistry lab

Chemistry Lab

To prepare rocks as aqueous solutions, samples are digested using a closed system Teflon vessel PicoTrace Disollution Unit capable of digesting batches of 16 to 32 samples simultaneously (to temperatures of 180°C and 20 bars).

Read More

rock preparation lab

Rock Preparation Lab

This space includes the necessary sample preparation equipment and microscopes for the generation of rock powders and hand-picked glasses.

Read More

Clean Rooms

The clean labs are metal-free labs with better than class 10 laminar-flow work spaces for chemical separations and low blank trace element and isotope analysis.

  • Trace Element Clean Room
  • Isotobe Clean Room

Learn More about the Clean rooms

student isotope clean room

Lab Access

Access is restricted to authorize personel only. For questions regarding lab access, please contact the lab manager:

Dr. Zhongxing Chen
zchen@fas.harvard.edu
Ph:617-384-9809