New metal-free Earth and Planetary Sciences laboratory will support research projects
New facility is designed to enable isotopic analysis which is used to investigate past environments and the origins of the Earth.
The Department has added to its well-equipped laboratory facilities with the completion of a new metal-free clean room. The laboratory is at Class 1000, containing fume hoods at Class 100 cleanliness. It will allow analysis of trace levels of metal, such as elements from lithium to lead, for uses such as examining past environments, dating rocks and probing the origins of the Earth. The room will be used to prepare samples of rocks, soils and water for isotopic analysis.
The new laboratory gives researchers the opportunity to analyse samples with techniques at the cutting edge of geochemistry and students at all levels will work with these facilities. In particular the facility will be used by Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann and his three postdocs working on the ERC funded project: Quantifying the link between weathering and past CO2 levels. By analysing historic climate variations in the Earth’s history this project will enable more accurate predictions of future CO2 drawdown.
The lab [shown below] will also support work carried out by projects funded by grants from the Royal Society and Petrobras, alongside staff and student projects from across the department.
Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann is one of three speakers at this year’s Science Week (April 3-6) who will be sharing his Earth Sciences research with Birkbeck communities and the general public.
Book your free place for these Science Week 2017 talks:
- Mechanisms for keeping the Earth habitable - Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann
- Triggering the radiation of early animals - Tianchen He
- Understanding how and when Antarctica became a frozen continent - Professor Andy Carter