WiscAr Infrastructure

The WiscAr lab is housed in five rooms on the third floor of Weeks Hall for Geoscience. There are two active 40Ar/39Ar analytical systems, one featuring an NGX-600 mass spectrometer fitted with 9 Faraday detectors with ATONA amplifiers and an ion counter, the other a Nu Instruments Noblesse 5-collector spectrometer fitted with 4 ion counters. All are in a climate controlled room along with their automated extraction lines.  The MAP 215-50 mass spectrometer is being updated to facilitate measurements of helium isotopes for surface exposure dating.

Sample processing is done in three adjacent rooms.  This sample preparation laboratory suite contains two fume hoods and equipment for magnetic, density, hydrodynamic, ultrasonic cleaning, and optical mineral separation with two binocular picking microscopes.

In addition, a rock crushing room is located in the basement of Weeks Hall, and the Cameron Electron Microprobe Laboratory that has a scanning electron microscope that is used extensively by WiscAr staff and students is on the third floor.