An automated freeze-thaw (AFT) instrument for disaggregating meteorites is described. Meteorite samples are immersed in 18.2 MΩ water and hermetically sealed in a clean 30 ml Teflon vial. This vial and its contents are dipped between baths of liquid nitrogen and hot water over a number of cycles by a dual-stepper motor system controlled by LabView. Uniform and periodic intervals of freezing and thawing induce multiple expansions and contractions, such that cracks propagate along natural flaws in the meteorite for a sufficient number of AFT cycles. For the CR2 chondrite NWA801, the boundaries between different phases (i.e., silicates, metal, matrix) became progressively weaker and allowed for an efficient recovery of 500 individual chondrules and chondrule fragments spanning 0.2–4.7 mm diameters after 243 AFT cycles over 103.3 h. Further FT experiments on a basalt analog showed that the time required for freezing and thawing the same number of cycles can be reduced by a factor of ∼4.
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June 2011
Research Article|
June 08 2011
Disaggregating meteorites by automated freeze thaw
Christopher R. J. Charles
Christopher R. J. Charles
a)
Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory, Department of Geology,
University of Toronto
, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S3B1, Canada
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a)
Electronic mail: [email protected].
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 065102 (2011)
Article history
Received:
March 31 2011
Accepted:
May 16 2011
Citation
Christopher R. J. Charles; Disaggregating meteorites by automated freeze thaw. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 June 2011; 82 (6): 065102. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3597673
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