John B. Thornes Laboratory
The Geography Department laboratory moved into a new purpose built facility in Spring 2010. The John B. Thornes laboratory, named in memory of the former Head of Geography at King’s College London, replaces the old Earth Surface Materials Laboratory in the Norfolk Building. The new laboratory, which represents an investment from the College of approximately £1.2million in the Geography Department, will provide first-rate facilities for both research and teaching activities within the Department.
The new laboratory consists of a main teaching laboratory, with space for up to 30 students in any one class, in addition to a number of specialized auxiliary laboratories for analytical chemistry, sediment analysis, microscopy and instrument calibration. The laboratory is well-equipped with deionised water supplies, fume cupboards, specialized glassware washing, a range of weighing balances, research-grade light microscopes, laser particle sizing instrument and analytical chemistry instrumentation (ion chromatography; graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy).
The Geography Department also poses a wide range of field and survey equipment, for soil, water, vegetation and sediment analysis, as well as surveying. Equipment is available for students to borrow for their field work.