Column: Micro Visions

January 1, 2011

DaG 1040

Dar al Gani 1040 is an odd CV3. It has a light colored matrixThe material of a meteorite that fills the spaces between chondrulesSmall round and oval structures of crystal grains found in most chondrite type meteorites. and inclusions. It is made of much smaller mineral particles than the chondrulesSmall round and oval structures of [...]

Tags: DaG 1040

Column: Micro Visions

Vaca Muerta Olivine

December 1, 2010

Vaca Muerta Olivine

Steve Arnold looked like he was passing appetizers. He was circulating with a tray of gem jars in Tucson. Each one held a cm size morsel of Vaca Muerta olivineA magnesium-iron silicate mineral commonly found in meteorites. It occurs as microscopic crystal grains in chondrites and as large often well formed crystals in pallasites.. Mesosiderites [...]

Tags: Vaca Muerta

Column: Micro Visions

November 1, 2010

NWA 4657 CK4

I don’t think CK meteorites are much to look at except those rare slices with huge, gnarly CAICalcium-Aluminum Inclusions are very evident light colored inclusion commonly found in carbonaceousA family of chondritic meteorites that contain several percent carbon by weight and are among the most primitive of meteorites. chondrites. They are often irregular in shape.. [...]

Tags: NWA 4657 CK4

Column: Micro Visions

NWA 5742 Howardite

October 1, 2010

NWA 5742 Howardite

It’s worth a few minutes to peruse a howarditeA meteorite classification of achondrite composed of a mixture of eucriteA class of achondrite meteorites that is similar in composition to basalt lavas found on Earth. and diogeniteAn achondrite type meteorite characterized by abundant magnesium-rich pyroxene angular clasts making it a breccia. just for the textures – [...]

Tags: NWA 5742 Howardite

Column: Micro Visions

September 1, 2010

NWA 2377 L3.7

Chuck, There are a lot of pictures of NWA 2377 L3.7 on the web. No doubt this is because it’s such a good example of a chondrite. It’s got a dark matrixThe material of a meteorite that fills the spaces between chondrulesSmall round and oval structures of crystal grains found in most chondrite type meteorites. [...]

Tags: NWA 2377 L3.7

Column: Micro Visions

August 2, 2010

Efremovka CV3

Chuck, Just the exotic name made me want it. Efremovka. It’s a CV3 thin section and looked different so I bought it. (It wasn’t cheap.) The stone was found in Kazakhstan in 1962. Back then it was called the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The sample on the thin section is a good size and has [...]

Tags: Efremovka

Column: Micro Visions

July 1, 2010

More Stitching

Chuck, Last time, I went on about my fitting pictures together when my microscope doesn’t have a low enough power. That’s when the object is too big to fit into the field of view at my lowest power – with best image settings (least distortion, best resolution etc.) I take pictures of portions of the [...]

Tags: Photomerge Stitching Photos

Column: Micro Visions

Low Magnification

June 1, 2010

Low Magnification

Chuck, When you’re shopping for a new ‘scope or looking to upgrade the one you have I suggest you try to include glass that will let you take low magnification pictures too. When I’m looking at slices or thin sections I move them around to get an impression of the overall piece. You can’t share [...]

Tags: Photomerge Stitching Photos

Column: Micro Visions

May 1, 2010

Saratov L4

Chuck, While you’re saving up money for that d’Orbigny angriteAn achondrite meteorite type characterized by calcium-titanium-aluminum rich pyroxene abundance. thin section you’ve been wanting I suggest you buy a chondrite TS or two, just to stay on your game. They don’t have to break the bank. One I’d suggest is Saratov if you can find [...]

Tags: Saratov

Column: Micro Visions

NWA 869 More Features

April 1, 2010

NWA 869 More Features

Chuck, Thank you for the baggie of NWA 869 slices. I’ve gone through them all at least twice with a 10X loupe. I found a few interesting things to show you. Some of them we talked about last time. I have to admit that it took me a while to make some of these pictures. [...]

Tags: NWA 869

Column: Micro Visions

NWA 869 Inclusions

March 1, 2010

NWA 869 Inclusions

Hey Chuck, Please look for fine grained inclusions, too, when you’re slicing those NWA 869s. They look like little gray patches of unmixed Portland cement. Folks have been calling them achondritic inclusions but that might not be what they are. There’s a recurring rumor that something’s going to be published about them but I haven’t [...]

Tags: Inclusions, NWA 869

Column: Micro Visions

Armored Chondrules

February 1, 2010

Armored Chondrules

Chuck, Thank you for slicing up a few of my NWA 869s for me. Per our deal I’m sending half the slices back to you. You say you’re going to give them away to kids but you ought to keep that one with the armored chondrulesSmall round and oval structures of crystal grains found in [...]

Tags: Armored Chondrules

Column: Micro Visions

January 1, 2010

NWA 4560 LL3.2

Chuck, Let me point out another place to see good thin section pictures. Jeff Hodges has a great collection of slides and a very good microscope. He loans thin sections to Tom Phillips (we talked about Tom last time), particularly polished sections (no glass cover slip) that Tom really likes working with. Jeff’s evolving site [...]

Tags: NWA 4560 LL3.2

Column: Micro Visions

Crashed Chondrules

December 1, 2009

Crashed Chondrules

Hey Chuck, I hope you still check out Tom Phillips’ pictures. He’s still doing awesome stuff. Several folks have commented on pictures he posted last month. I particularly like the first one in the series, a low magnification shot of a barred chondrule with a chunk blasted off. You can see it by going to [...]

Column: Micro Visions

Breccia – Micro Vision

November 1, 2009

Breccia – Micro Vision

Chuck, I guess you saw where that gent was asking about breccias. I trust he found his way to Wikipedia. They even have pictures he can use in the talk he’s going to give. He was talking about rocks he’d seen at an impact structure and here we talk about micro stuff but the definition [...]

Column: Micro Visions

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