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Staff

Sharon Sneed, Director

The University of Maine Ion Chromotography/Glaciochemistry Lab specializes in analyzing ice core and snow samples at the parts-per-billion level for all major cations and anions. Housed in the Sawyer Environmental Research Center, the IC Lab is primarily a facility of the Climate Change Institute, and serves the research needs of the Institute faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students.

Research

Ice from Antarctica is currently being analyzed for all major ions to determine the climate record dating back approximately 200 years.

For example, data from a recent core (collected in 1999) corroborated historical reports of the Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815. Ice cores, usually about 100 meters long, are processed one meter at a time using a continuous melter, which is connected to two fraction collectors.

Equipment

The Ion Chromatography/Glaciochemistry Laboratory at the Institute uses Dionex DX-500 chromatographs fitted with suppressed conductivity detectors and Gilson Autosamplers.

Sharon Buchanan Sneed, Laboratory Manager
135 Sawyer Environmental Research Center
University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469
207 581-2208
e mail: sharon.sneed at maine.edu