Overview

Pre-treatment of rock, sediment, and soil samples for cosmogenic isotope analyses (10Be, 26Al) includes purification steps to obtain pure quartz grains prior to dissolution and element separation by ion-exchange column chromatography. From sieved samples, minerals are separated by magnetic separation and/or heavy liquids, and silicate and oxide minerals are chemically separated from quartz by leaching with acids (HF, HCl, HNO₃) at elevated temperatures.

Equipment

Our wet chemistry lab hosts the necessary equipment for quartz purification from the rock, river sediment, and soil samples.