The projects of the GSC-Quebec researchers and INRS-Eau, Terre et Environnement professors are supported by first-class laboratories to which the entire regional geoscientific community has access.

• GSC Laboratory (analytical geochemistry)

  The rock, sediment and tree characterization laboratory is a joint INRS-GSC laboratory whose multidisciplinary equipment and analytical services (preparation of rock and sediment samples, mineral and organic petrography, micropaleontology, sedimentology, and major and trace element geochemistry)  support research conducted by GSC and INRS researchers. The laboratory has seven components: 1) rock and sediment sample preparation; 2) mineral and organic petrography; 3) geochemical analysis; 4) sedimentological analysis; 5) paleontology and palynology; 6) dendrochronology; and 7) sample preservation.

  For more information, contact Stéfane Prémont or Yves Michaud.
  
  

• Stable Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory (Delta-Lab)

  The stable isotope geochemistry laboratory (Delta-Lab) analyses stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur using a PRISM-III mass spectrometer with a static mode analytical system (dual inlet) and dynamic mode analytical systems (GC-IRMS, EA-CF-IRMS), and a Delta Plus XL mass spectrometer with three dynamic mode analytical systems (Gas Bench II, TC/EA-IRMS and GC/TC-IRMS). With this equipment, the Delta-Lab can cover the whole range of stable isotope tracers applied to studies in hydrogeology, environmental research, metallogeny, diagenesis and sedimentology by analysing isotopes from waters, reactive host rocks and dissolved components.

  For more information, contact Martine M. Savard.
  
  

• Quebec multidisciplinary CAT-Scan laboratory

  The multidisciplinary CAT-Scan laboratory for natural resources and civil engineering is the first facility of its kind in Canada. In addition to the sample preparation room, the cold-room for temporary storage of perishable samples and an image-processing laboratory, the facility has a CAT-Scan room and control room. The CAT-Scan room must be lead-sealed to meet the safety standards that apply to a hospital radiography room, owing to the x-rays emitted. The scanner is 2 metres high, 0.89 metres deep and 2.2 metres wide, and weighs 2,100 kilograms; it has a 70-cm opening and moves on 3.5-metre-long tracks. It is equipped with a source-detector assembly that turns 360 degrees around the sample. On each rotation, an image is acquired using an array, and these images can be incremented continuously. A 3-D reconstitution of the internal structures is established on a sub-millimetric scale, with a definition of 0.1% density.

  For more information, contact Bernard Long.
  
  

• Hydrogeology laboratory

  The main laboratory services relate to field equipment and numerical modelling. The equipment available for data acquisition in the field includes that needed for characterization of groundwater flow. Some of the services are the designing and installation of wells, boreholes and piezometers, evaluation and control of aquifers (pumping, in-situ percolation (slug test), constant-head injection, etc.), discharge measurements, groundwater flow measurements, groundwater quality monitoring and sampling, contaminant source and plume delineations, surveys and instrumentation, and surface and borehole geophysics. The available equipment for numerical modelling includes two work stations, as well as the following software: Feflow, Sutra, Modflow, Aqtesolv, SEEP/W, Surfer/Grapher, Tecplot, MapInfo, GS+, Sigma Plot and Fed. Development of three-dimensional mathematical models takes into account saturated flow conditions in a permanent or transitional regime.

  For more information, contact Yves Michaud.
  
  

• Dendrochronology and dendrogeochemistry laboratory

  The work done at this laboratory is based on use of tree growth ring sequences as bio-indicators of natural and anthropogenic environmental disruptions. The facilities include a high-precision (0.001 mm) Unislide micrometer, connected to a Metronics Inc. QC-1000 data acquisition system, which is used for digital data transfer. This system can be used for, among other things, the production and statistical processing of tree ring patterns. Combined with geochemical analysis, this technique can be used to reconstitute paleo-environmental conditions and to establish the temporal evolution of contaminants.

  For more information, contact Christian Bégin.
  
  

• Laboratory for in situ decontamination of contaminated soils and groundwater

  This laboratory was established with the support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ministère de l’Éducation [department of education]. This was done in partnership with Defence Research and Development Canada (DROC) at Valcartier, and the laboratory is in one of the latter’s buildings. Tests are done in stainless steel vats that can hold 9 m3 of soil. Researchers there can reproduce the whole range of possible soil conditions, as well as various cases of contamination by pollutants resistant to the usual cleaning methods. They also work on TNT crystals and other explosive products from unexploded ordnance.

  For more information, contact Richard Martel.
  
  

• Direct push and rotary percussion sounding system

  A Geotech 605D geotechnical drilling rig and sounding equipment were acquired with the support of a grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ministère de l’Éducation [department of education]. This system is available for R&D or training projects involving characterization of soils or rock masses. It can be used for direct push sounding of soils, for example cone penetration tests (CPTu), and rotary percussion sounding of soils or rock masses. This system can also be used for soil and water sampling and for doing percolation tests without having to install permanent observation boreholes or wells. Still, light piezometers can be installed using the system. These capacities apply to geological, hydrogeological or geotechnical characterization work, including for defining groundwater resources or understanding contaminated sites.

  For more information, contact René Lefebvre.
  
  

• High-resolution paleoclimatic analysis laboratory (LAPAHR)

  The infrastructure, funded through a CFI grant, is made up of an environmental scanning electron microscope equipped with a dispersion energy detector (chemical analysis). It allows for the observation of large biological and geological samples (chamber 365 mm in diameter and 255 mm in length) at pressures of 1 to 750 pascals, and for the collection of very high quality digital images (up to 3072 x 2304 pixels, 8 or 16 bit). The microscope will be combined with driver software that will automate an original and unique technique for analysing images of thin sections of unconsolidated sediments. Completing the infrastructure is a microscopic x-ray fluorescence (ITRAX) CAT-Scan that can be used for very high resolution (up to 100 microns) non-destructive elemental analysis directly on the surface of sediment cores.

  For more information, contact Pierre Francus or Isabelle Larocque.
  
  

• Physical, digital and geophysical simulation laboratory

  A laboratory for physical, digital and geophysical simulation applied to mineral and oil exploration is being developed with funding from CFI and the Ministère de l’Éducation [department of education]. A centrifuge that can reach over 1000 g will be used to increase the force of gravity on models created using silicone putties and modelling pastes to simulate deformation of rock in the deep crust. Other devices are available for simulating the evolution and three-dimensional geometry of structures in sedimentary basins and mountain ranges. In digital simulation, powerful computers will be used to create animations of geodynamic processes and study fluid circulation and metamorphic evolution during deformation in different tectonic regimes. Geophysical simulations will show how the structures created in models would appear on seismic profiles or magnetic field images.

  For more information, contact Lyal Harris.

  
  
  
• Digital cartography and photogrammetry laboratory (LCNP)

  The LCNP, equipped with computerized equipment and a range of software, offers users expertise and high quality services in acquisition, management, analysis and dissemination of geoscientific data.  The computer infrastructure of the LCNP includes, among other things, large tracers, a video plotter,  digitizers and various types of servers. In recent years, the LCNP has developed leading-edge expertise in relation to the structure of geoscientific data in connection with provincial, national and international initiatives—for example, the North American Data Model (NADM).

  For more information, contact Serge J. Paradis

See also: Other GSC Laboratories