The volatile nature of some shale species when exposed to ambient environment necessitates the design of a "shale-friendly" testing device that minimizes the environmental effects to the experimental process. The CSM nano-indenter equipped with the complete environmental control (temperature and humidity) provides a unique system that meets this requirement.

The Bruker AXS 2D-XRD with a lateral oscillated sample holder and an area detector will not only reduce acquisition time but also provides a better representative mineral composition of the tested powder.

The Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity is used to measure the macroscopic mechanical properties of samples. This macroscopic properties together with the nanoscopic properties from indentation tests will be used for the Geogenome study.