Apatite and Zircon Fission Track: The Tectonic Sedimentology and Thermochronology (TeST) laboratory at MSU is equipped with a Leica DM2700 microscope, a drawing tube, a Kinetek high-precision automated stage, a Calcomp tablet and a custom-made cursor for fission track analyses. The microscope is connected to a Dell OptiPlex computer, which runs the FTStage software (Version 4) from Jasper Canyon Research. The microscope has an EC4 digital camera for teaching and imaging purposes. The TeST lab is equipped with the necessary materials for preparing apatite grain mounts (e.g., polishing and etching materials), and will start etching for zircon in the future. The fission track equipment and preparation facilities are managed by Dr. Devon A. Orme.
Apatite and Zircon (U-Th)/He preparation: At MSU, facilities for (U-Th)/He sample preparation include a Leica M165C stereoscope with Leica MC170HD camera and Leica Application software for live imaging and grain measurements. The lab is equipped with the necessary materials for grain measurements and packing (tweezers, dimpled slides, Nb tubes, etc.). The (U-Th)/He preparation facilities at MSU are managed by Dr. Andrew Laskowski and Dr. Devon A. Orme.
Sandstone and carbonate petrography: TeST lab basin analysis techniques. Students use this Nikon petrographic microscope for sandstone modal analyses using the Gazzi-Dickinson point-counting method and carbonate grain identification.
Tectonic Sedimentology and Thermochronology Laboratory 