The Department of Geography has boats and associated equipment (boat radio, lifejackets, depthfinder, engines, floating pontoon rig, marine handheld, chart plotter) for hire.
The Department of Geography has the facilities to provide analysis and preparation for a range of inorganic and organic determinants such as total carbon & total nitrogen, total & available metals, biomarkers, gamma measurement, and non-destructive core profiling by laser scanning.
The Department of Geography has a comprehensive gamma spectroscopy facility which allows for dating of sediments using gamma emissions from caesium, lead and radium in soils.
Geomorphological Services, Department of Geography includes palaeoenvironmental indicator preparation, microscopy, particle size/shape analysis, dating, land and wet sediment coring and measurement of magnetic susceptibility of materials.
Geotechnical and environmental testing in the Department of Geography includes:
1. Measurement of mechanical properties of undisturbed and reconstituted cylindrical soil specimens using triaxial cells.
2. Simulation of conditions produced by both environmental and man-made induced vibration using a cyclic stress path triaxial testing system.
3. Measurement and control of pore water pressure using a GDS Back Pressured Shearbox (saturated version).
4. Measurement of the strength and volume change characteristics of soils when sheared using direct shear apparatus.
5. Effects of temperature and relative humidity over large ranges (-40C to 180C, 10% to 100% RH) using a computer controlled climatic test chamber.
6. Modelling loading and unloading of a soil stratum (especially clays) by natural and man-made processes under one-dimensional conditions using an oedometer.
The Department of Geography has a range of surveying equipment and laser scanners.
The Department of Geography water sampling and data logging service includes the following measurments in water: flow rates,current profiles, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, temperature, total dissolved solids, specific conductance, salinity and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) using automated and manual water sampling equipment.