The Coastal Geology Laboratory seeks to integrate four core lines of research, these are, 1). the study of our coastline and to support coastal management efforts; 2). the study of Holocene paleoenvironments (the last 10,000 years) based on estuarine and marine cores;
3) collecting evidence of tsunamis in sedimentary records from the continental shelf; 4). improve seabed mapping of the Portuguese sea floor using multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data.
To achieve these goals, the Tavira Unit has two rooms dedicated for laboratory use, and are equipped with instruments that permit the sedimentological characterization and analysis of marine and coastal sediments.
The Micro Raman is an exciting piece of equipment that permits the chemical characterization of any material without destroying the sample. The spectral data generated from these microsamples gives geologists a mineralogical fingerprint and this data can be compared to a database to determine the provenance of the sample/sediment. The Camsizer, on the other hand, analyzes a particle’s size and shape and is also used in determining the source or provenance of sediments. The samples can be manually checked by using the binocular available in the lab. In addition, the lab houses a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 that determines grain sizes by laser diffractometry, and a Calcimeter Eijekelkamp – that determines the carbonate content.
The other equipment available is for the preparation of sediments for analysis. The sediment distributor (Retsch PT 100) performs a random, and representative division of sediment samples, while the sediment mill (Retsch PM 100) performs the grinding of sediments for analysis of carbonates and organic matter.