Susan Boehm
Summary
Keeping the Art Alive.
18 thin section requests from on shore scientists. 2 large format used to see transition areas, and 1 sediment sample that needed to be fully impregnated, all others were basalt. The on shore staff scientist communicated the requests by emailing the section half images with colored squares around the areas where a thin section is requested.
New batteries put in both digital micrometers- handheld and petrothin. I will remove the batteries at end of expedition so that they last longer.
All three vacuum pumps cleaned and oil replaced.
Experimented with procedure to impregnate laminated sediment samples to determine if this is feasible to do on board. Could be possible when the Petropoxy arrives to the ship.
LP-50
Used for slide frosting and lapping. Very consistent and reliable. I used one jig for both settings and adjusted the chuck face up or down when needed. The picture shows where I preferred the chuck face to be set when lapping, the large needle inbetween 2 and 3. This leaves the face slightly lower which means less material will be lapped away out of caution. I prefer thinning the sample down more after lapping by using the 1000 grit by hand, this gives me more control and makes a much better/faster polish on the PM5.
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Works well but squeaky when WG2 is rotating.
Samples and methods
See Epoxy Impregnation Experiments
Attempted to replicate a procedure for impregnating soft laminated sediments. I concluded that it is a procedure we could do onboard if we have the proper epoxy. It is not feasible to do many samples during an expedition since the impregnation takes multiple days, however, I could see this being very useful for limited requests. Laminated sediments were plentiful and of very high interest on Exp 379 where I managed to make a few moderately successful "thick sections" so that the layers could be examined more closely.
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