Facility for Isotope Research and Student Training
At the forefront of isotope analysis
FIRST at Stony Brook is a unique isotope lab offering a comprehensive range of services related to isotope analysis. Learn more about our research and areas of study below.
Some of the FIRST lab group
_edited_edited_edited.png)
Research Specialties
U-Pb laser ablation dating
We have a New Wave 213 UV laser that we couple to an Agillent 7500 quadupole mass spectrometer for U-Pb analyses of carbonates and fluorite. We use the relationships of U, Th and Pb with other elements to learn more about the fluids that formed the carbonates and to place age constraints on those fluids.
U-Pb Carbonate Dating
Carbonates are ubiquitous at the Earth's surface. They form in depositional environments and can form from later fluids. U-Pb dating of these carbonates in the context of field and petrographic relationships offers tremendous potential for testing ideas about their context.
​
​
This figure is from a recent publication in Earth Science Reviews where Rasbury et al., 2023 showed that laser ablation ages are consistent with previously published isotope dilution results and considered how well one could constrain sequence stratigraphy with laser ablation dating of carbonates.
U-Pb Fluorite Dating
Fluorite is important as an ore mineral and often occurs along with other critical minerals. Like carbonates, many fluorite samples have low U/Pb and are not amenable to dating. However, many fluorite deposits have 100's of ppm U and those have great potential for dating. Based on their associations, dating fluorite can tell us about the age of ore deposits which can help test models for ore body formation. The figure to the right is from Piccione et al., 2019 and the dates constrain the timing of REE mobility at Round Top, in the Trans Pecos region of Texas.
Professor William Holt is the lead PI on a Frontiers of Earth System Research grant from NSF to use U-Pb dating of fluorite to test geodynamic models for the extensional collapse of the western US. The newly funded research will involve dozens of undergraduate and graduate students.
Boron Isotopes in Waters and Plants
We have a large group of graduate and undergraduate students who are working on boron isotopes in waters, soils, and plants. Many of these students are part of a Vertically Integrated Program (VIP) called 'Cities of the Changing Wetlands'.
