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Thin section of a stalagmite showing calcite birefringence

Convoys for shipping microgram sample amounts

Brian Frappier, Lab manager with Kiel device

72,000 year old stalagmite

Drip water and speleothems in Schohaire Cavern

Varved clay has anual layers deposited in lakes as glaciers retreated from upstate New York

Brian and Amy Frappier use the microscope to analyze stalagmites

A varved clay outcrop in Glacial Lake Warrensburg

Luc Frappier pointing to the elmental analyzer

Luc Frappier and the SPA Lab gas bench

Luc Frappier presenting the Mass Spectrometer, MAT-253

Luc Frappier with the elemental analyzer

Amy and Brian Frappier with the MAT-253 device

Collecting a mud core sample

Measuring layers in a mud core sample

Using a microdrill to extract calcite from a stalagmite

Collecting micro samples of calcite

Wading through a creek to collect samples

The Stable-Isotope and Paleoclimate Analysis facility allows measurement of different isotopes of elements like carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. This reveals metabolic changes one meal ago or environmental conditions 500 million years ago. The isotope mass spectrometer and can analyze substances such as rocks, shells, hair and even breath which can yield data about climate, ocean chemistry, and metabolism.  The lab specializes in reconstructing paleo-tempest activity using the isotopic composition of speleothems; we hope to better understand the relationship between climate and tropical storms.  We also research the paleoclimate of the Yucatan Peninsula to help understand the environmental context of the Mayan collapse.  Additionally, the SPA lab has developed new isotopic proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstruction such as dacryoconarid fossil shells for Devonian isotopic information, speleothem trace element records of volcanic activity, and the use of mud deposits on speleothems as a proxy for water table depth and storm activity.

The SPA Lab is supported by: