Recently, I’ve been working on analyzing surficial weathering of chert using Laser Ablatio

Recently, I’ve been working on analyzing surficial weathering of chert using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). In order to isolate the weathered surfaces for top-down analysis, chert fragments were mounted in epoxy, cut, ground, and polished. Because the ablation cell is small and geologic samples and lithic artifacts are often prohibitively large, I designed custom sample cups and had them 3D printed. These cups were the right size for the ablation chamber and helped to align the chert samples perfectly. A few failed (leaked), but they still served their purpose in mounting the chert samples.

Tomorrow I will analyze the samples! More updates soon!