In Situ High Resolution Analysis Platform
The Steinmann Institute of the University of Bonn hosts a variety of micro-analytical facilities that allow for the high-spatial-resolution characterization of geological samples. These include a Resonetics M50E 193 nm ArF UV Excimer laser system, and a JEOL 8200 Superprobe electron microprobe analyzer.
In Situ High Resolution Analysis Platform
Copyright: Raúl Fonseca
In particular, the laser ablation system can be coupled to both a Thermo Fisher X-Series 2 Quadrupole ICP-MS, and a Thermo Fisher Element XR sector-field ICP-MS, which allows for both elemental and isotope in situ analysis of samples. The analytical infrastructure present in Bonn thus enables the detailed chemical characterization of both natural and experimental samples at the micrometric scale. Such a detailed geochemical characterization is pivotal to our understanding of processes that take place at the mineral grain scale, but that may have large scale implications to the broader chemical cycles taking place within the Earth. These processes include, melting, metasomatism, hydrothermal fluid overprint, among others, and having a better grasp of how these processes work is pivotal to our understanding of the Earth’s dynamics.
