EPMA applications
The Electron Probe Micro-Analyser, including tephra analysis, has a wide range of uses from palaeoclimate studies to economic and industrial applications.
Tephra Analysis Unit (TAU)
The EPMA Facility hosts the Tephra Analysis Unit for the analysis of volcanic glasses, with wide application to climate change research and volcanological studies. Recent research has included the correlation of North Atlantic crypto-tephras for insight into palaeoclimate since the last glacial period, and ash dispersal and risk to trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights.
Palaeoclimate studies
EPMA's capability of rapid, high-quality data collection has enabled detailed palaeoclimate studies of surface seawater temperatures from the Mg/Ca ratio in the bi-weekly growth zones of calcareous algae. This has led to the development of an accurate palaeothermometer with application to resolving regional differences in Holocene climate variability.
Industrial applications
EPMA has innumerable applications within industry. The EPMA Facility has worked with Rolls Royce for many years on new turbine blade alloys for future, more fuel-efficient jet engines. Other industrial applications have included microelectronics, nuclear waste disposal and investigation of Formula 1 car component failure.
Economic resources
EPMA data have been fundamental to understanding the formation of economic resources. Significant heterogeneity in gold composition at scales from 100s of metres to 100s of microns exists throughout the Archean metasedimentary host rocks of the Witwatersrand gold deposits of South Africa. This suggests that the gold originally formed as a series of placers rather than having been introduced hydrothermally.