Research Facilities

Faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students utilize state-of-the-art facilities, ranging from distributed computing to advanced mass spectrometers, to stable-isotope facilities. The wide range of research underway in the department involves virtually every scale, from the smallest microbe, to the largest ocean system. If the research project requires a customized instrument, we have the capability to fabricate equipment.

	Center for Isotope Tracers in Earth Sciences The UC Irvine Center for Isotope Tracers in Earth Science (CITIES) facility in the School of Physical Sciences houses a range of sophisticated analytical instrumentation. This includes four stable isotope mass spectrometers (IRMS), capable of measuring air, water, soil, plant, and rock samples, and a new High-Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (HR-ICP-MS) that is utilized for measuring elemental and isotopic tracers in natural samples. Click here for more information.
Green Planet This resource is a supercomputer devoted to modeling land, atmosphere, and ocean interactions involved in the Earth's climate system. Researchers in the Department of Earth System Science use Greenplanet to analyze and make predictions based on massive amounts of data.  By distributing commands throughout a network of machines, Greenplanet provides the computing power needed to process complex operations in a matter of seconds.
	High Resolution Mass Spectrometer This facility is a high resolution triple-sector mass spectrometer.  It is used for the identification and quantification of hydrocarbons and halocarbon trace gases in atmospheric samples, and air extracted from polar firn and ice cores.
Instrumentation Development Facility This facility provides electronic engineering and instrumentation support. The facility assists in the maintenance, development, and field deployment of analytical instrumentation. Click here for more information.
	John V. Croul Hall Croul Hall opened in 2003, is a 68,000 square foot, state-of-the-art research facility. It was built through a successful private-public partnership. Croul Hall houses the Department of Earth System Science, including faculty and staff offices, laboratories, and conference rooms. Many thanks to John V. and Kingsley Croul for their generous donation, which made this building possible.
W.M. Keck Carbon Cycle Mass Spectrometer The Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometer facility (CCAMS) specializes in using radiocarbon as a tracer of the global carbon cycle. The facility analyzes 14C in carbon from natural waters, soils, sediments, the atmosphere, and biota. Click here for more information.