Experimental Geochemistry
High temperature geochemistry at 1 bar
Gas Mixing Lab
Currently, a set of 10 one bar gas mixing furnaces is ready to use for various experimental purposes. Their flexible design allows a wide variety of experimental investigations: 2 furnaces are equipped with Brookfield viscosimeters for rheological investigations, while 1 furnace is equipped with a Mettler Toledo 104 balance for in situ density determinations. One furnace is used for oxidation state determinations of various metals in silicate melts (Fe2+/Fe3+, Eu2+/Eu3+, Cu1+/Cu2+). Synthesis of geomaterials or glasses under controlled fO2 (oxygen fugacity) conditions are only one standard method routinely applied. Six one bar furnace assemblages, including all necessary experimental infrastructure (gasmixing systems, oxygen sensor assemblages, etc.), are reserved for element partitioning studies concerning moderately and highly siderophile elements,. A new area of research will be the control of sulphur fugacity applying SO2 containing gas mixtures in planned partitioning studies to investigate this important parameter in respect to planetary segregation and core formation processes.
High temperature–high pressure geochemistry
Hydrothermal/Piston Cylinder Lab
The high pressure-high temperature laboratory at the Section for Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry consists of 2 internally heated pressure vessels (IHPV) and a piston cylinder apparatus (PC). Itsmain task is mineral synthesis under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Samples synthesized are characterized by various analytical methods. Most recently, a high pressure viscosimeter allows in situ viscosity measurements under conditions of high pressure and high temperature.
High temperature – high pressure centrifuge
The Section for Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry offers a unique experimental apparatus: A high temperature-high pressure centrifuge (Heraeus Cyrofuge 8500i) with a maximum rotation velocity of 4000 rpm (200 g!), maximum temperature of 1350 °C at pressures of up to 1000 bar. With this special device investigations can be performed regarding element partitioning between immiscible silicate liquids, granite rheology, melt segregation processes and even falling-sphere viscosity measurements.
