TA2 Facility 2 – VU (Exo)Planetary Interior Simulation Laboratory (PISL)
Please Note: The Europlanet 2024 RI project, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149, closed in July 2024. This archive page describes Transnational Access (TA) activities funded through the Europlanet 2024 RI project.
TA2 Facility 2 – VU (Exo)Planetary Interior Simulation Laboratory (PISL)
Average visit: 5 days
The (Exo)Planetary Interior Simulation Laboratory (PISL)at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is dedicated to studies of the behaviour of planetary materials at extreme conditions.
Available equipment includes:
two piston cylinder presses, capable of subjecting cubic-millimeter-sized volumes of minerals, metals and/or magma to pressures between 0.4 and 3.5 gigapascals and temperatures up to 1873 K;
An 800 ton multi-anvil press, capable of generating sample pressures between 3 and 10 gigapascals and temperatures exceeding 2000 K;
A gas mixing furnace that can subject samples to either highly reducing or oxidising conditions at temperatures up to 1873 K.
The facility is used to constrain geochemical processes in the interior of the Moon [1,2], Mercury [3], Mars [4], asteroids [5], and rocky exoplanets [6].
Individual experiments take between a couple of minutes and 3 days depending on the specific research topic. Users will be trained in sample preparation as well as instrument use, and the lab features in-house starting material and run product preparation facilities.
[1] Lin et al. (2019) Geochemical Perspectives Letters 20, 14-19 [2] Lin et al. (2016) Nature Geoscience 10, 14-18 [3] Steenstra et al. (2019) Icarus 335, 113408 [4] Steenstra et al. (2018) Scientific Reports 8, 7053. [5] Steenstra et al. (2020) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 269, 39-62. [6] Hakim et al. (2018) Astronomy & Astrophysics 618, L6.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Wim van Westrenen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands. w.van.westrenen@vu.nl
Piston cylinder press at high-pressure, high-temperature laboratory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Credit: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
TA 2.2. Piston cylinder press at high-pressure, high-temperature laboratory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Credit: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
800 ton multi-anvil press at high-pressure, high-temperature laboratory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Credit: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
TA 2.2. 800 ton multi-anvil press at high-pressure, high-temperature laboratory at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Credit: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating crystallisation in the lunar magma ocean produced using VU High pressure laboratory. Px = pyroxene, Plag = plagioclase, Glass = quenched magma [Lin et al. 2019, Geochemical Perspectives Letters].
TA2.2 Electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating crystallisation in the lunar magma ocean produced using VU High pressure laboratory. Px = pyroxene, Plag = plagioclase, Glass = quenched magma [Lin et al. 2019, Geochemical Perspectives Letters].
False-color electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating the reaction between silicon carbide (top) and oxidised silicate melt, and metal (bottom) in rocky exoplanets, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Hakim et al. 2018, Astronomy and Astrophysics]
TA2.2 False-color electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating the reaction between silicon carbide (top) and oxidised silicate melt, and metal (bottom) in rocky exoplanets, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Hakim et al. 2018, Astronomy and Astrophysics]
Electron microscope image showing experiment performed to assess sulphide melt segregation from silicate magma in eucrites and angrites. Round holes in sulphide and melt indicate laser ablation spots made to determine precise chemical compositions of the phases, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Steenstra et al. 2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta]
TA2.2 Electron microscope image showing experiment performed to assess sulphide melt segregation from silicate magma in eucrites and angrites. Round holes in sulphide and melt indicate laser ablation spots made to determine precise chemical compositions of the phases, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Steenstra et al. 2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta]
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Europlanet AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif – 0800.634.634) is hosted by the Department of Planetary Atmospheres of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
![TA2.2 Electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating crystallisation in the lunar magma ocean produced using the VU High pressure laboratory. Px = pyroxene, Plag = plagioclase, Glass = quenched magma [Lin et al. 2019, Geochemical Perspectives Letters].](https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/VUHP3.png "Electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating crystallisation in the lunar magma ocean produced using VU High pressure laboratory. Px = pyroxene, Plag = plagioclase, Glass = quenched magma [Lin et al. 2019, Geochemical Perspectives Letters].")
![TA2.2 False-color electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating the reaction between silicon carbide (top) and oxidised silicate melt, and metal (bottom) in rocky exoplanets, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Hakim et al. 2018, Astronomy and Astrophysics]](https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/VUHP4.png "False-color electron microscope image of a high-pressure experiment simulating the reaction between silicon carbide (top) and oxidised silicate melt, and metal (bottom) in rocky exoplanets, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Hakim et al. 2018, Astronomy and Astrophysics]")
![TA2.2 Electron microscope image showing experiment performed to assess sulphide melt segregation from silicate magma in eucrites and angrites. Round holes in sulphide and melt indicate laser ablation spots made to determine precise chemical compositions of the phases, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Steenstra et al. 2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta]](https://www.europlanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/VUHP5.png "Electron microscope image showing experiment performed to assess sulphide melt segregation from silicate magma in eucrites and angrites. Round holes in sulphide and melt indicate laser ablation spots made to determine precise chemical compositions of the phases, produced using VU High pressure laboratory [Steenstra et al. 2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta]")
