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Hirata Lab
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A lab that traces the history of the Earth and life through the tiniest traces of elements in rocks and meteorites.
AboutAbout the lab
Tracing 4.6 billion years of history from trace elements.
Hirata Lab studies the concentrations and isotopic compositions of trace elements contained in rocks and meteorites.
These measurements make it possible to estimate when a sample formed and what the environment was like at that time.
Using state-of-the-art analytical instruments, the lab aims to clarify the history of the solar system, the Earth, and the origin and evolution of life.
Visitors are welcome to tour the lab at any time, and if you contact the lab in advance, someone will show you around.
Key terms
- Isotope
- Atoms of the same element that differ in weight because they have different numbers of neutrons
- Chronology
- A research field that measures when rocks and minerals formed, using changes in radioactive elements and other methods
- Metallomics
- Research that investigates where and in what amounts trace metal elements exist inside living organisms, and how they function
ResearchResearch themes
Using state-of-the-art analytical instruments, the lab measures the concentrations and isotopic compositions of trace elements in rocks, meteorites, and living organisms, aiming to clarify the history of the origin and evolution of the solar system, the Earth, and life. The lab is also developing techniques for ultra-trace element analysis and ultra-high-precision isotope analysis.
*Illustrative imageChronology of the Early Solar System
The lab examines isotopes of elements in extraterrestrial materials such as meteorites to determine when events took place shortly after the solar system formed.
*Illustrative imageThe Newly Formed Earth
The lab investigates how the Earth's core formed and how the continents have grown, tracing changes in the internal structure and surface environment of the early Earth.
*Illustrative imageMetallomics
The lab works on imaging that visualizes how trace metal elements are distributed within living organisms.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of Cutting-Edge Analytical Techniques
The lab develops techniques for analyzing extremely small amounts of elements and for extremely precise isotope analysis, both of which are essential to advancing its research.
MembersFaculty
Hirata Lab consists of faculty members, project researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research students.As of 2025
- ProfessorHirata TakafumiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “ICP-AES Plasma Torch - 001” Sigmo / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Chronology of the Early Solar System: “CV3 Carbonaceous Chondrules ( )” Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- The Newly Formed Earth: “Zircon-210380” Carles Millan / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Metallomics: “H4IIE cells with stained nuclei” Shinryuu / Public domain (cropped)
- Development of Cutting-Edge Analytical Techniques: “Inductively Coupled Plasma” Wblanchard / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yokoyama Lab (Center for High-Resolution Environmental Analysis)): “CSIRO ScienceImage 518 Air Bubbles Trapped in Ice” CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamaguchi Lab): “Flexure-chert kyuzo-pass01” KAMUI / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (OFGS (Ocean Floor Geoscience / Okino-Kuroda Lab)): “Louisville seamount chain - bathymetry” World Data Center for Geophysics & Marine Geology (Boulder, CO), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Ikeda Lab): “Ribbon chert of the Marin Headlands Terrane, exposed at Marshall's Beach, San Francisco” Callanbentley / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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