Facilities
Seafloor Samples Laboratory
The Seafloor Samples Laboratory of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is located in the McLean Laboratory on WHOI’s Quissett Campus. The collection contains more than 14,000 archived marine geological samples that have been carefully recovered from the seabed. The inventory includes long, stratified sediment cores, rock dredges, coral cores, surface grabs and samples collected by submersibles.
National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Facility (NOSAMS)
NOSAMS provides analyses of 14C at natural abundance levels to the ocean sciences research community.
Applications include dating of sedimentary deposits, studies of the sources of carbon-bearing materials in sediments and in the marine water column, studies of paleocirculation and ventilation (comparison of 14C differences between planktonic and benthic foraminifera, time series in corals), and detailed studies of circulation and carbon cycling in the modern ocean (three dimensional mapping of the distribution of 14C in dissolved inorganic carbon).
Plasma Mass Spectrometry Facility
The WHOI Plasma Mass Spectrometry (or ICPMS) Facility is a laboratory for trace element and isotope ratio measurements operated under the auspices of the W.H.O.I. Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department.
Our instruments include argon plasma source magnetic sector mass spectrometers equipped with a variety of sample introduction devices for gaseous, liquid and solid samples. We also provide analytical services that include sample preparation, element separation and purification for Sr, Nd and Pb isotope analyses.
Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility (NENIMF)
Paleo Mass Spectrometry
The Finnigan mass spectrometer system is utilized for the analysis of calcium carbonate samples. Samples are run for paleoceanographic and environmental research carried out by members of Geology and Geophysics.
Organic Mass Spectrometry Facility
The Organic Mass Spectrometry Facility provides specialized, state-of-the-art analytical services using instruments which would be prohibitively expensive for any single investigator to develop, operate and maintain. This facility primarily serves members of the WHOI Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, but is available to all investigators at the Institution and, as time and resources permit, to other researchers outside of the Woods Hole community.