The KU Plasma
Analytical Laboratory
for
chemical analysis of rocks, water, and soil
The Department of Geology hosts
the KU Plasma
Analytical Laboratory (KU-PAL). In this facility are two plasma-based instruments, a
laser-ablation microprobe for direct sampling of solids, a micro drill for
sampling of solids to be dissolved, and other supporting equipment. The building of this laboratory began
with Dr. Terry Plank (now at Boston University) and Dr. Gwen
Macpherson (the current director of KU-PAL) and continues as funding is
available and new needs are identified.
- 1995: renovation of Lindley Hall
rooms 105 and 105A
- March 1996: installation of the VG
PlasmaQuad II+XS Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer
- August 1996: on-site training course for Plank,
Macpherson, and laboratory manager Dan Gravatt (now at KDHE)
- February 1997: installation of the JY
138 Ultrace Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICPAES).
- July 1997: former laboratory manager Dan Gravatt attends training
course at JY facilities in New Jersey.
- September 1997: installation of Zeiss
Photomicroscope III petrographic microscope (originally donated to the
University of Kansas by Oxy Petroleum, 1990)
- February 1998: installation of LUV266Gen 3 Nd-YAG
laser ablation system
- February 1998: on-site training course in Laser
Ablation Methods in Geology, given by Dr. Simon Jackson (Macquarie
University, Australia)
installation
of Macintosh G4 450 MHz computer for data base storage and manipulation
installation
of Gateway 700 MHz computer for laser-data processing
acquisition
of micro-nebulizer system for ICPMS
- June 2000: Laser upgraded to a Merchantek EO LUV 266x laser
ablation microprobe
- July 2001: installation of New Wave Research MicroMill
- April 2003: installation of Macintosh G4 1Ghz
computer for data processing, transfer, and storage.
Funding for KU-PAL was provided byÉ