In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Wally Broecker, Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, dreamed about adding a noble gas laboratory to the geochemistry department. I knew of Peter's work in Heidelberg, and when we met at a conference in Toronto in 1987, I thought it was a big opportunity. Schlosser thanks the Keck Foundation when he thinks about how quickly everything fell into place. Mass spectrometers are awe-inspiring specimens of technology. Housed behind several nondescript doors within the unassuming geochemistry building, the four machines live in a small palace designed especially for them.
Projects run continually.
Schlosser and other members of the lab designed and constructed parts of the mass spectrometers, particularly the inlet system, which is where the noble gas is extracted from samples before analysis. They also designed the layout of the rooms, including a glass-enclosed computer workstation so members of the lab can see the mass spectrometers while reducing the distraction of the machine's continual hum. Geochemists who work in the lab know the hum is reassuring because it means the machines are working well. When the mass spectrometers malfunction, it's typically the scientists themselves who fix the problem. It measures the amount of noble gases in groundwater and rocks and significantly expanded the lab's research capabilities.