Scientific lead
Lab manager
Associated researchers
Research support staff
PhD / Post-doctorate fellows
The Noble Gas facility is a research laboratory dedicated to the analysis of noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) and nitrogen in samples, whether (1) solid (e.g. rocks and minerals from the terrestrial mantle and crust or various planetary bodies), (2) liquid (water and underground fluids) or (3) gaseous (e.g. atmospheric, volcanic, or geothermal gases).
These analyses are performed by (1) extraction (grinding, ablation using a 193-nm laser, and heating by induction and diode or CO2 laser), (2) purification under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and (3) analysis by high-resolution mass spectrometry. The facility, installed at the CRPG, is part of the local ANATELo and ICÉEL (Institut Carnot) networks and, nationally, the RéGEF (INSU) network.
The facility is accessible to all CRPG researchers and each year welcomes masters and doctoral students and post-docs, as well as invited collaborating researchers. It is possible, upon validation by our steering committee, to provide services for other laboratories, whether academic or private.
Equipment
Nu Instruments Noblesse HR
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (grinder, induction furnace, laser)
Analyses:
Ne, Ar, and N2 in rocks
Thermo Scientific Helix MC "Gris"
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (grinder, induction furnace, laser)
Analyses proposées:
He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe in rocks
Thermo Scientific Helix MC "Bleu"
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (grinder, induction furnace, laser)
Analyses:
He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe in gas-rich samples
Thermo Scientific SFT "Cosmo"
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (grinder, induction furnace, laser)
Analyses:
3-4He and 20-21-22Ne in rocks
Thermo Scientific SFT "Air"
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (grinder, induction furnace, laser)
Analyses:
3-4He and 20Ne in fluids (gas and liquid)
Ligne d'analyse Datation U/He
Coupled systems:
UHV purification line
Systems of extraction under UHV (Laser 193 nm and 988 nm)
Analyses:
4He and 20Ne in separated minerals
CONDITIONS OF ACCESS/PRICES
Access: Access to this facility is obtained by contacting the manager, who will evaluate the feasibility of the project (contact the scientific lad and lab manager by email or using the request form below).
Prices: Contact the facility manager.
ANALYTICAL REQUEST FORM
Request form:
members
RECENT AND NOTABLE PUBLICATION
Recent publications
Bekaert, D.V., A. Caracausi, B. Marty, D.J. Byrne, M.W. Broadley, G. Caro, P.-H. Barry, A.M. Seltzer (2024). The low primordial heavy noble gas and 244Pu-derived Xe contents of Earth’s convecting mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 642, 118886.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118886
Doll, P., S.R. Eaves, B.M. Kennedy, P.-H. Blard, A.R.L. Nichols, G.S Leonard, D.B. Townsend, J.W Cole, C.E. Conway, S. Baldwin, G. Fénisse, L. Zimmermann, B. Tibari (2024). Cosmogenic 3He chronology of postglacial lava flows at Mt. Ruapehu, Aotearoa / New Zealand, Geochronology, 6, 365–395. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-365-2024
Gamblin, J., E. Füri, B. Marty, L. Zimmermann, D.V. Bekaert (2024). Dissecting the complex Ne-Ar-N signature of asteroid Ryugu by step-heating analysis. Geochem. Persp. Let., 31, 44–48. https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2431
Lauretta, D. S. and the OSIRIS‐REx Sample Analysis Team (2024). Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: Properties of the sample collected by OSIRIS‐REx. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 59(9), 2453-2486. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14227
Morbidelli, A., Y. Marrocchi, A.A. Ahmad, A. Bhandare, S. Charnoz, B. Commerçon, C.P. Dullemond, T. Guillot, P. Hennebelle, Y.-N. Lee, F. Lovascio, R. Marschall, B. Marty, A. Maury, O. Tamami (2024). Formation and evolution of a protoplanetary disk: Combining observations, simulations, and cosmochemical constraints. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 691, A147. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202451388
Notable publications
Marty, B., L. Zimmermann, P.G. Burnard, R. Wieler, V.S. Heber, D.L. Burnett, R.C. Wiens, P. Bochsler (2010). Nitrogen isotopes in the recent solar wind from the analysis of Genesis targets: Evidence for large-scale isotope heterogeneity in the early solar system. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 340–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.09.007
Blard, P.-H., G. Balco, P.G. Burnard, K.A., Farley, C.R. Fenton, R. Friedrich, A.J.T. Jull, S. Niedermann, R. Pik, J.M. Schaefer, E.M. Scott, D.L. Shuster, F.M. Stuart, M. Stute, G. Winckler, L. Zimmermann (2015). An inter-laboratory comparison of cosmogenic 3He and radiogenic 4He in the CRONIS-P pyroxene standard. Quaternary Geochronology, 26, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2014.08.004
Tibari, B., A. Vacherat, M. Stab, R. Pik, D. Yeghicheyan, P. Hild (2016). An alternative protocol for single zircon dissolution with application to (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 40, 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-908X.2016.00375.x
Füri, E., E. Deloule, R. Trappitsch (2017). The production rate of cosmogenic deuterium at the Moon’s surface. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 474, 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.05.042
Almayrac, M.G., D.V. Bekaert, M.W. Broadley, D.J. Byrne, L. Piani, B. Marty (2022). The EXCITING experiment exploring the behavior of nitrogen and noble gases in insterstellar ice analogs. The Planetary Science Journal, 3, 252. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac98b0