In the Helmholtz-Laboratory for the Geochemistry of the Earth Surface HELGES, sample preparation and measurements of cosmogenic nuclides and stable isotopes of metals and metalloids in geological and environmental sample materials, such as sediments, rocks, river water, soils, vegetation are performed.

Equipment: Two clean labs class 1000+ with class 10 laminar flow workstations for sample preparation of low concentration samples. Dry and wet chemistry labs for preparation of solid and liquid samples. Analytical instruments for concentration and isotope ratio measurements on liquid and solid samples. A Thermo Neptune Multicollector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) for isotope measurements (Li, Mg, Si, Fe, Sr). Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (Varian 720 ES ICP-OES) for concentration measurements. Both ICP instruments can be coupled to an in-house built femtosecond laser ablation system (fsLA-MC-ICP-MS or fsLA-ICP-OES) for in-situ concentration and isotope ratio measurements at the micrometer scale.