Soils and and Geoarchaeology Lab

RLP 3.520

Director: Timothy Beach

Director Emeritus: Francisco Perez

The Soils and Geoarchaeology Lab was dedicated to Dr. Karl Butzer in Fall 2015. Our lab supports chemical and physical analysis of soils and sediments. Analytical capabilities include LOI Carbon analysis, Grain size analysis, Melich II Extractant Phosphorous testing, isotope sample preparation for IRMS, and sample preparation for elemental geochemical analysis by ICP. Major equipment includes a Beckman Centrifuge, an Anton Parr Multiwave GO Microwave Digester, fume hood, drying oven and muffle furnace, a water deionization system, sample refrigerator, shakers and hotplates. The Lab has a Remote Sensing and GIS computing room, featuring 4 Dell laptops and an HP ENVY Phoenix desktop, shared with the Environmental Hydrology and Water Quality Lab, and has a dedicated Paleoecology Microscope Room for examining micromorphology thin sections, micro-charcoal, diatoms, phytoliths, and microfossils. Field equipment includes augers, a HACH field colorimeter, Ashtec, Spectra, and Garmin GPSs, and a Vibracorer. This lab holds a current USDA Soils Import Permit.