The research group Analytical, Environmental and Geochemistry (AMGC) specialises in earth and environmental sciences. The scientific approach focuses on the holistic use of biogeochemical tracers, such as elemental concentrations (Cd, Pb, PGE, etc.) and isotopic ratios (D/H, 18O/16O, 87Sr/88Sr, etc.), in some cases referred to as 'proxies', that are measured on a substrate (e.g. mineral phase, fossil, mussel shell, teeth, seawater, ice cores, etc.) to infer specific environmental parameters (such as condition of formation, temperature, acidity, salinity, CO2 level, composition, bio-productivity, etc.). Variations in these proxies characterise the factors triggering or resulting from (palaeo)environmental changes and document at different scales, the short and/or long-term effects of these modifications on the Global Earth System.
The group develops state of the art analytical methods for the study of aquatic systems such as oceans, coastal ecosystems, estuaries, rivers and lakes. Another focus is on past and present global changes, palaeoceanography and reconstruction of ancient environments. These developments are closely connected to the study of:
- biogeochemical processes in (palaeo)oceanography, understanding marine ecosystems and the quantication of the productivity and export production in open oceans;
- biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and pollutants (inorganic and organic) in coastal ecosystems;
- metal fluxes and microbial diversity in contaminated marine sediments;
- the accumulation of pollutants in marine organisms;
- etc.
AMGC also specialises in:
- the sampling of labile, bioavailable dissolved fractions of both nutritive and toxic trace elements;
- the determination of trace metals using high resolution inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS);
- the determination of stable isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen using stable isotope mass spectrometry (IRMS);
- high resolution 2D visualisation of spore metals in sediments using laser technology coupled to ICP-MS;
- the determination of Th/U ratios in particles using a scintillation counter;
- the measurement of persistent organic hydrocarbons (i.e. dioxins and PCBs) using genetically modified cell lines (CALUX).
Moreover, µX-ray fluorescence is also used for the determination of major and trace elements, as well Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine functional groups. Ongoing research addresses, among others, the development of methods to assess export production fluxes, the 3D visualisation of spore elements found in sediments and the development of 3D process models for the description of their behaviour. The research group participates in several national and international research projects and collaborates with Belgian and foreign research institutes worldwide. |
