Ph.D. Student Tihana Pensa completed two months of laboratory work at the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences in Granada, Spain, under the direction of Dr. Antonio Delgado Huertas.  Tihana visited the Centre for Scientific Instrumentation at the University of Granada. The center is equipped with a new state-of-the-art TIMS (mass spectrometry with thermal ionization source) machine.

Tihana analyzed Sr, O, C, and S isotopes on rock samples from the Red Sea basin to determine the age and environments of deposition.

"I got the excellent opportunity to visit the Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry laboratory and work under the supervision of Dr. Antonio Delgado Huertas. I received hands-on training on mass spectrometer along with a sample preparation technique. I completed ¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O analysis on carbonates and ³⁴S/³²S analysis on evaporite rocks. I also visited the Centre for Scientific Instrumentation at the University of Granada for sample preparation of both carbonates and evaporites for future ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr analysis. Based on the isotopic composition of oxygen, carbon, and sulfur we will determine paleoenvironmental conditions in the Red Sea during the last 14 million years. By analyzing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in anhydrite and calcite, we will define the age of two Miocene formations, salt, and post-salt evaporite and clastic rocks. " - Tihana Pensa (​PhD student - APG Group - Prof. Aboud Afifi)