Fluid and Melt Inclusion Laboratory

The UCL Fluid and Melt Inclusion Laboratory has facilities to analyse fluid and melt inclusions – tiny bubbles of fluid or melt trapped while a rock is forming.

Location: Room 201A, Second Floor, Kathleen Lonsdale Building
Telephone Extension: 56371
Laboratory Manager:  Dr Katie McFall

We have equipment for fluid and melt inclusion petrology and heating and freezing experiments, including high temperature (up to 1400°C) heating experiments for fluid inclusion micro-thermometry and melt inclusion homogenisation. This allows reconstruction of fluid conditions including temperature, salinity, minimum trapping pressure estimates and fluid composition. These techniques have applications in igneous petrology, sedimentary basin analysis, and ore deposit research and exploration.

Equipment available:

• Linkam THMSG600 heating-freezing stage with temperature range of -193 to 600°C
• Linkam TS1400XY heating stage with temperature range of up to 1400°C
• LINK temperature control and image analysis software, with stage-linked video recording
• Nikon LV100ND petrological microscope with 10X, 20X and 50X objectives and high-resolution camera

Individuals or companies interested in undertaking fluid or melt inclusion studies at the facility should contact Dr Katie McFall.