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Research Facilities

• Geology/Geochemistry Program
• Geophysics Program
• Hydrology Program
• Selected equipment available elsewhere on campus

• Argon Lab -- The Geochronology Research Laboratory includes a rare gas mass spectrometer attached to automated resistance furnace and carbon dioxide laser extraction lines.
• Electron Microprobe -- CAMECA SX-100 microprobe with 3 wavelength-dispersive spectrometers.
• Facility for analysis of crystallographic preferred orientations of minerals in rocks -- Starkey X-ray texture camera, image analysis system for processing X-ray data, and universal stage.
• Fission Track Lab -- Complete FT dating facilities are available at New Mexico Tech. Samples are dated using the external detector method.
• Fluid Inclusion Laboratory -- two stages for standard thermometric analyses: infrared microscope for opaque minerals; high-temperature stage; facility for extracting fluids for microanalysis.
• GPS - real time kinematic receiver.
• Paleomagnetic/Rock Magnetic Equipment -- spinner magnetometer interfaced with microcomputer; alternating field demagnetizer; thermal demagnetizer.
• Polishing and Thin Section Lab -- saws for cutting and polishing rock wafers.
• Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer Facility -- for analyzing volatiles in inclusions.
• SED Lab -- Nikon scope with UV-fluorescence unit for observation of diagenetic and porosity textures; MAAS/Nuclide model ELM-3 Luminoscope for cathodoluminescence examination; micro-drilling apparatus equipped with miniature vacuum.
• Stable Isotope Laboratory -- Finnegan MAT mass spectrometer and vacuum extraction lines for analysis of O, H, C, and S isotopes.

Geophysics Program:

• Digital Seismic/Geophysical Networks -- New Mexico Tech operates digital seismic networks in New Mexico and, along with the Geology/Geochemistry program, an interdisciplinary volcano observatory on Mount Erebus, Antarctica. The Erebus network incorporates dual-frequency GPS, broadband seismometry, infrasound, infrared, and gas sensors.
• Computer Facilities -- The Geophysics and Hydrology Programs jointly maintain Sun, Alphaserver, PC and Macintosh computer systems with associated peripheral equipment and services (printers, plotters, scanners, multible Tbytes of backed-up RAID disk space) for both research and teaching. The network is professionally maintained by department staff and features a full suite of graphics and geophysical software tools, including industry standard 3-D seismic processing, imaging, and interpretation software (Landmark).
• Infrasound and Image Processing Laboratory (under development) -- More than one hundred calibrated infrasound sensitive transducers are being built, and an infrasound calibration test chamber is under construction. In addition, short-period seismometers, digital telemetry hardware, optical infrared thermometers, tiltmeters, and a half dozen Chaparral Physics microphones have been/are being acquired. High resolution video cameras and Macintosh computers with imaging processing and geo-registration/photogrammetry software will also be available.
• Portable Seismological Instrumentation -- In collaboration with the on-campus IRIS PASSCAL Instrument Center, the program has access to state-of-the-art seismological recording equipment, including broadband and short-period seismometers and multichannel shallow exploration systems. The program also owns a "Betsy" shotgun seismic source and minivibrator for shallow seismic exploration.
• Shallow Characterization Facility -- features proton-precession and cesium magnetometers, gravity meters, D.C. resistivity exploration equipment, and a multi-frequency (50, 100 and 200 MHz) ground penetrating radar system.
• Rock Physics Laboratory -- a facility for measuring rock and sediment/elastic properties of marine and fault-zone samples, as well as conducting triaxial rock deformation experiments.

Hydrology Program:

• Chemical Transport Laboratory -- hood; distillation facilities; balances; ovens; furnace; viscometers; interfacial tension meters; columns for colloid, bacteria, and multiphase fluid transport studies; pumps; spectrophotometer; data acquisition systems.
• Computer Facilities -- The Geophysics and Hydrology Programs jointly maintain Sun, Alphaserver, PC and Macintosh computer systems with associated peripheral equipment and services (printers, plotters, scanners, over 2 Tbytes of RAID disk space) for both research and teaching.
• Controlled Environment Laboratory -- bacteria culture, storage and preparation equipment; autoclave; centrifuges; constant-temperature shaker and centrifuge.
• Field Equipment -- access to large drilling rigs; field trucks; soil sampling equipment; pumps; velocity meters; automatic recorders; data loggers; neutron probes; TDR instruments; mechanical and electronic meteorological instrumentation; EM38, EM31, and EM34.
• Instrument Laboratory -- two HP capillary gas chromatographs with four detectors; four high-pressure liquid chromatographs with computerized data acquisition systems; sample storage and preparation facilities.
• Isotope Laboratory -- equipment for the preparation of 36Cl samples for acceleration analyses.
• Remote Sensing Laboratory -- FieldSpec Pro FR Spectroradiometers (350-2500 nm), Middleton EQ 16-E Pyrano-albedometer, two Precision infrared radiometers (PIR).
• Sevilleta Field Site -- north of Socorro for studying soil-water movement in the vadose and saturated zones. Includes pumping and injection wells, monitoring wells, neutron moisture logging, tensimeters, stage recorders, and weather stations.
• Soil-Water Laboratory -- permeameters; moisture-retention apparatus; particle size distribution equipment; centrifuge; ovens; balances; TDR instrument; data acquisition system.
• Teaching Laboratory -- Darcy, sorption, and dispersion columns; sand box models; electrical analogs; fluid mechanics experiments.
• Video and Image Analysis Laboratory -- micromodels; II component and S-VHS video tape recorders; V-LAN based video editor; high resolution video cameras; programmable film cameras; two Zeiss stereoscope and Axio host epinfluorescence microscopes; IT151 high-resolution image processing on a SUN 4-330 computer with NOESU morphology software.
• Water Chemistry Laboratory -- hood; wet chemical analysis and sample preparation apparatus; columns for chemical transport studies.

Additional Selected equipment available elsewhere on campus:

• 6100 Scanning Electron Microscope, fitted with a Noran Energy Dispersive X-ray Analyzer
• Amray 1200B Scanning Electron Microscope
• JEOL 100C Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM)
• Philips EM 430 transmission electron microscope

Last updated October 9, 2007. Email comments to Webmaster.
© 2002-2007 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, MSEC 208
801 Leroy Place, Socorro, New Mexico 87801 Map
Phone 575.835.5634; FAX 575.835.6436; Email geos@nmt.ed