6.32	Geological Sciences

Head: N. Chow
General Office: 240 Wallace Building
Telephone: (204) 474 9371
Fax: (204) 474 7623
Email: brenda_miller@umanitoba.ca
Website: umanitoba.ca/geoscience

Academic Staff

Program Information
The department consists of a dynamic group interested in a wide variety of topics in the geological sciences. Research is focused on understanding Earth materials and materials analysis. The department is recognized internationally for minerals research. The department has developed numerous multidisciplinary approaches in the assessment of modern and past surface and near-surface environments, and imaging of deep continental structure and crustal dynamics. Research programs have a significant component of international collaboration and a substantial partnership with industry. To support these research efforts, the department maintains well-equipped state-of-the-art analytical facilities and has ready access to other regional and national facilities outside the department. Students regularly receive NSERC, Commonwealth and University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships.

The department offers a wide variety of research programs leading to degrees of Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Support for research projects is typically received from NSERC, the Geological Survey of Canada, the Province of Manitoba, the University of Manitoba, and a wide variety of industry sources such as energy resources exploration and production companies, and mining companies.

Fields of Research
The general fields of research of the department include: Carbonate sedimentology, Crystallography and mineralogy, Earthquake seismology, Environmental mineralogy and geochemistry, Evaporite sedimentology, Geochemistry, Geoarcheology, Igneous mineralogy and petrology, Invertebrate paleontology, Isotope geochemistry, Lithospheric and near-surface geophysics, Paleohydrology and Paleolimnology, Petroleum geology, Petrology, Quaternary geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and geochronology.

Research Facilities
The department is equipped for a variety of field and lab-based research projects. In addition, the department maintains the research equipment and services listed below. Access to these facilities is coordinated through the student’s thesis advisor.

1. X-Ray Laboratories
   
   • Two fully automated Bruker P4 four-circle single-crystal diffractometers; one with CCD detector.

   • Two Philips PW1729 X-ray generators; one with fully-automated PW 1710 X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) system, graphite monochromator and PC based operating system (MDI Datascan).

   • Siemens D5000 automated XRPD system with incident beam monochromator and Kevex PSI-II solid state detector, using DIFFRAC-AT software.

   • Gandolfi and Debye-Sherrer powder cameras; two Beurger precession single-crystal instruments; spindle stage, two Nikon binocular microscopes; optical microscope.

   • Mössbauer spectrometer for 57Fe spectroscopy.

   • Two controlled- atmosphere quench furnaces for 1600ŚC, and a cool-seal hydrothermal bench with water pressures up to 3 kilobars.

   • Extensive mineralogy crystallography software: MDI Jade 5+ including Search-Match option, Rietveld structure refinement routines, molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics software.

   
   

2. Geochemistry Laboratory
   
   • A wet chemical laboratory fully equipped for sediment, rock and mineral analyses.

   • Varian AA spectrometer and Varian ICP-OES with robotic sample handling.

   • IOMASS element-2 HiRes LAM-ICP-MS.

   • Mitsubishi CA-06 moisture meter with a VA-21 high temperature furnace.

   • Leco induction furnace sulphur analyzer.

   • Accumet 950 specific ion analyzer.

   
   

3. Microbeam and Image Analysis Laboratory
   The Microbeam Facility in Geological Sciences is set up as a Regional Facility to serve the needs of universities, industry and government institutions in Canada with a state-of-the-art electron microprobe and LAM-HR-ICP-mass spectrometer, and a scanning electron microscope and image analysis system, and includes the following equipment:
   • CAMECA SX100 electron microprobe with PGT EDS and 5WDS spectrometers equipped with windows based operating system.

   • Thermo-Finnigan Element2 HR-ICP-MS with Merchantek LUV213 laser.

   • Zeiss-Kontron image analysis system (IAS) with high definition colour monitors and extensive software. The IAS is linked to all cameras, optical microscopes, SEM and electron microprobe.

   • Cambridge Stereoscan 120 Scanning Electron Microscope with back scattered electron detector, energy dispersive X-ray detector, and digital image store facility.

   • Technosyn cold cathode luminescence system.

   • Fluid inclusion stage.

   • Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (SIMS)

   • CAMECA MS 7f SIMS for trace element determination, isotopic measurements and depth profiles.

   • Resistive Anode Encoder (RAE) for elemental mapping.

   
   

4. Sedimentological, Petroleum Geology, and Quaternary Studies Laboratories
   • Automated size analyzers (Sedigraph and Galai PSA Laser 2010).

   • RoTap sieve shaker, Soil-Test sieve shaker.

   • Drying ovens, muffle furnaces.

   • Nikon epi-fluorescence microscope.

   • Mettler analytical balances.

   • Fisher Accumet pH-Eh meters.

   • Carbonate analyzer, centrifuges, water chemistry field analytical kits, conductivity meters, specific ion electrodes.

   • Galai Image Analysis system (IAS) with colour and monochrome monitors, video camera, digitizing tablet, and statistical and GIS software.

   • Complete, fully-equipped clean room for microfossil and sedimentological sample preparation.

   • Two complete Livingston piston sediment corers, including 80 m of Mg-alloy connecting rods and 6 extra core barrels.

   • Vibracorer and associated sampling equipment.

   • Complete Acker sediment sampling system, including 3 m tripod derrick, motorized cathead hoist, 60 kg drive weight, split tube sampler, solid tube sampler, connecting rods, and a variety of bits and augers.

   • Extensive subsurface well log library for all of western Canada, including all hard copy logs for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, and a microfilm/reader-printer system for all logs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and subsurface well cuttings and cores from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

   
   

5. Invertebrate Paleontology Laboratory
   
   • Complete Nikon stereoscopic plus petrographic microscope/ photomicrographic systems, and photography facilities with Nikon and Minolta camera systems.

   • Adjacent sample preparation room/darkroom with various saws, grinders, and a Hillquist thin section machine.

   
   

6. Geophysical Laboratories
   
   • Exploranium gamma-ray spectrometer.

   • Scintrex magnetometer-VLF system.

   • Worden gravimeter.

   • Bison hammer seismograph.

   • Bison DC-resistivity system.

   • Scintrex magnetic susceptibility meter.

   • Computing facilities including GEOTOOLS and WinGLink magnetotelluric software, VISTA 2D seismic processing software, earthquake data processing software, and a high resolution colour graphics imaging system supporting satellite and multispectral geophysical imaging.

   • Seismograph station with equipment including three-component long-period seismometers, three-component short period seismometers, amplifier system, and helicorder display.

   • Larger-scale research geophysical instrumentation includes a seven-instrument broad-band portable seismograph facility, a three-component down-hole seismic system, and a Geonics PROTEM47 time-domain EM system.

   
   

7. Other Equipment and Facilities
   
   • Star Lake Field Station, southeast Manitoba.

   • R.B. Ferguson Museum of Mineralogy.

   • Ed Leith Cretaceous Menagerie.

   • Access to the Prairie Regional NMR Centre at the University of Manitoba which has a narrow bore spectrometer with solid state probes including a DOTY magic angle spinning probe and a DOTY single crystal probe.

M.Sc. in Geological Sciences