Labs & Research Facilities

 

Geology & Geochemistry Facilities

• Laboratory for X-ray Diffraction and Microdiffraction

Dr. Roberta Flemming, Director
The X-ray Diffraction and Microdiffraction Laboratory provides facilities for powder and in situ mineral analysis based on crystal structure. The laboratory has a conventional Rigaku Powder diffractometer and a Bruker Discover diffractometer with 2D area detector, automated XYZ sample stage and microscope-camera system, for in situ X-ray analysis of discrete mineral grains in rock slabs, probe mounts or polished sections.

• Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science (LSIS)

• Alan D. Edgar Laboratory for Electron-Probe Microanalysis

The A.D. Edgar Laboratory for Electron-Probe Microanalysis houses an electron microprobe that is fully automated by a state-of-the-art computer system. Chemical microanalyses of thick samples, thin films and particles are possible and high-resolution digital electron and X-ray images can be acquired. The lab also houses a Scanning Electron Microscope.

• The Laboratory for Geochemical Analysis (XRF Lab,  INAA, ICP-ES)

Dr. Charlie Wu, Manager

The Laboratory for Geochemical Analysis houses three major instrumental techniques: X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and inductively-coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). They provide wide element coverage and concentration range for routine analysis of geological and environmental specimens.

• Surface Science Western (SEM - EDX; FESEM; XPS/ESCA; SAM; SIMS; TOF-SIMS; FTIR; AFM; Tencor surface profilometry; Laser Raman spectroscopy; XRD; Contact angle goniometry; EPMA-WDX)

• Western Canada Digital Well Log Facility

Dr. Guy Plint, Director

The Western Canada Digital Well Log Facility possesses a microfiche printer and an extensive Well Log Library from some 100,000 exploratory boreholes in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. A digital well log library and dedicated workstation has recently been installed. This large data set forms an essential resource for students investigating the sedimentary history of this basin, as well as providing an invaluable teaching tool.

• Cathodoluminescence (CL) and Sample Separation Facility

Patricia L. Corcoran, Director

The CL and Sample Separation Facility houses (i) equipment used for mineral and sample separation, including a Frantz magnetic separator, sieve shaker, heavy liquid separation apparatuses, drying oven, and stereoscopic microscope, and  (ii) instruments for sample preparation, recognition, and analysis, which include a microdrill, CL microscope, CL spectrometer, petrographic microscope, and image analysis workstation. The cold CL unit enables the capability to analyze whole rock samples, loose samples (e.g. sands), and polished sections. Examples of samples studied using the facility’s infrastructure include the minerals quartz, diamond, apatite, corundum and carbonates, in addition to sea glass, plastic fragments and nanomaterials.

• Petroleum Geology Lab

Dr. Burns Cheadle, Director

This facility provides the tools required for comprehensive technical and economic assessment of petroleum plays, prospects and developed pools. It has three purpose-built high-performance exploration workstations with dual 30" high-resolution flat panel monitors, running a comprehensive suite of industry-standard petroleum assessment software. Currently, the software suite - largely made possible by generous donations from vendors - includes Schlumberger's Petrel reservoir modeling system, SeisWare International's SeisWare™ and Divestco's WinPICS , WinPICS 3D, Synthetic Suite and VistBridge seismic interpretation packages, Fugro-Jason's PowerLog® petrophysical analysis software, geoLOGIC's geoSCOUT™ data and mapping system, IHS Canada's AccuMap™ and Petra® data and mapping packages, and Energy Navigator's Value Navigator® economic evaluation software. The workstations are networked through a dedicated server that manages software license administration and shared project files.

• Magmatic-Hydrothermal Lab

Dr. Robert Linnen, Director

This laboratory is currently being set up and will contain equipment for the study of natural mineral deposits as well as experimental equipment to determine chemical parameters such as metal solubility and partition coefficients in fluid-mineral melt systems. The key components are:

Petrographic microscopes (transmitted and reflected light as well as image analysis software)
Computers: software for 3D modeling of ore deposits, geochemical modeling and fluid inclusion interpretation
Fluid Inclusions: a Linkham THMSG600 heating-freezing stage
Rapid-quench cold seal autoclaves (both Ar and H2O pressure)
Piston cylinder apparatus

• Mobile Geological Laboratory

Dr. Gordon Osinski, Director

The Mobile Geological Laboratory represents a paradigm shift in our approach to geological field and laboratory research, by maximizing the scientific return of fieldwork and allowing for iterative studies to be carried out and minimizing the mass of samples that must be returned for subsequent follow-up analyses. The Laboratory currently boasts the following analytical and mapping equipment:

• Bruker Tracer III SD X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer.
• DeltaNu RockHound^TM portable Raman spectrometer.
• Trimble Yuma rugged tablet computers, featuring built in GPS and GIS capabilities.
• Trimble GeoExplorer GeoXT handheld computers, featuring Windows Mobile® operating system, with ArcPad software and built in GPS.
• Garmin Rino and GPSMAP® 60CSx handheld GPS units.

In addition, a large pool of logistical field equipment is available, including:

• 2- and 3-person expedition tents.
• Propane and white gas stoves, lightweight cooking sets, etc.

For details on rates and how to use any of this equipment, please contact Dr. Gordon Osinski at gosinski@uwo.ca

• Planetary Mapping Facility

Dr. Gordon Osinski, Director

The Planetary Mapping Facility contains seven state-of-the-art computer workstations designed for visualization and processing of a range of geospatial data, attached to a multi-disk storage array with several terabytes of capacity.  These workstations are equipped with a variety of software designed for mapping planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Software includes: ArcGIS, Oasis Montaj, ENVI.

For details on rates and how to use any of this equipment, please contact Dr. Gordon Osinski at gosinski@uwo.ca

• High Resolution Earth and Planetary Materials Imaging Facility

Drs. Gordon Osinski, Neil Banerjee, and Robert Linnen, Co-Directors

This facility, funded in part by the Western Academic Development Fund, features high-resolution microscopic imaging systems for novel optical analysis of Earth and planetary materials in advance of microbeam and isotopic analysis. Three Nikon and one Olympus microscopes are available: three compound polarizing microscopes equipped with different combinations of transmitted (TL) and reflecting light (RL) illumination and imaging capabilities; one high magnification stereomicroscope with visible and illumination and imaging capabilities. The three compound microscopes are equipped with 5 Mpx and 12 Mpx cameras, connected to desktop computers with Nikon’s NIS- Elements software.

For details on rates and how to use any of this equipment, please contact Dr. Gordon Osinski at gosinski@uwo.ca

 

Geophysics

• POLARIS

• Southern Ontario Seismic Network

• Experimental High Pressure-Temperature Mineral Physics and Materials Science laboratory

Dr. Rick Secco, Director

The Experimental High Pressure-Temperature Mineral Physics and Materials Science laboratory is unique in Canada and contains three large volume presses: 1,000 ton and 200 ton cubic-anvil presses and a 500 ton multi-anvil (Walker Module) press with capabilities to 24 GPa and 3000°C; 1500°C furnace, electrical conductivity apparatus, differential thermal apparatus and thermogravimetric analysis systems; various viscosity, electrical and thermal conductivity equipment.

• High-pressure and High-temperature Diamond-Anvil Cell Laboratory

 Dr. Sean Shieh

The High-Pressure and High-Temperature Diamond-Anvil Cell Laboratory comprises a micro-Raman system with a tunable laser covering 514.4 and 488 nm, two resistive-heated hydrothermal diamond-anvil cells, and a double-sided laser-heating system, that can heat sample up to 3000 K.  Several symmetrical and couple of panoramic diamond-anvil cells allow for investigating different kinds of materials under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. 

• Computational Laboratory for Fault System Modeling, Analysis, and Data Assimilation

Dr Kristy Tiampo

Environmental Geosciences

• Atomic Force Microscopy Laboratory

Dr. Gordon Southam, Director

The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) Laboratory is an imaging technology that allows three-dimensional imaging and measurement of unstained and uncoated structures in air or fluid from molecular to micron scales. The Department has recently received funding to develop an AFM laboratory which will be used to examine bacteria mineral interactions, including both mineral weathering and mineral precipitation reactions.

• Physical & Chemical Hydrogeology Experimental Laboratory

Dr. Rob Schincariol, Director

The Physical & Chemical Hydrogeology Experimental Laboratory is equipped for laboratory, field and numerically-based hydrogeology studies. A 6.2 x 1.2 x 0.05 m flow tank facilitates contaminant transport studies. Field and lab-based equipment includes sample and delivery pumps, permeameters, data loggers, pressure transducers and water level meters, water-quality monitoring equipment, current meters and high-performance computers.

Computer Facilities

• Parallel Supercomputing facility 

A Parallel Supercomputing facility consisting of clustered very-high performance PC servers running on the LINUX operating system. Two sub-clusters are now available in the Computational Geodynamics Laboratory. One is a five-node Compaq Alpha cluster consisting of a dual-processor DS20 master node and four XP1000 nodes. The second and newest sub-cluster is based entirely on the latest Intel Itanium processors and consists of 6 IBM quad (4-processor) servers interconnected with high-perfomance Dolphin network interface cards. The Computational Geodynamics group also possesses five high-performance Pentium workstations running on LINUX for everyday student use. These workstations are interconnected with high-speed Ethernet and may also be used as a parallel cluster.

• SHARCNET

• Laboratory for Education in the Digital Geosciences

Barry Price, supervisor

The Laboratory for Education in the Digital Geosciences has five Geographical Information System workstations (NT) with digitizing tablets and software, a scanner and Global Positioning System equipment.

• Student Computer Drop-In Facilities

Barry Price, supervisor

Student Computer Drop-In Facilities include about 60 computers that are networked or run on an NT server, as well as printers and back-up devices.

Support Facilities & Resources

• The Suffel Collection

• Electronic Instrumentation Lab

• Mechanical Instrumentation Lab

• Material Preparation Lab

 

• Research Topics
  • Earth & Planetary Systems
  • Resource Geoscience
  • Tectonic Processes & Natural Hazards
  • Earth Evolution: Surface Life & Climate
• Research Facilities