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Re: Meteorite Preservation



rkuzma01@juno.com wrote:
> 

> It seems to me that cutting and polishing whole sections serves no
> scientific purpose and is solely for esthetics.  (Polishing of small
> windows of a specimen may be justified for thin section study or for
> observing patterning, but why would it be necessary for every section to
> be so treated?  I would appreciate any feedback on what practical
> scientific purpose polishing serves.)
> 

Richard,

Proper cutting and polishing has a definite scientific purpose: It allows
examination of the specimen at the macro level to determine the constituent
parts, such as chondrule types, brecciation, melts, structure, population
densities, etc. These cannot be determined on an unpolished surface. Polishing
isn't done simply to make it pretty. The finer the grit used in polishing, the
more the details become visible for analysis.

Gene

P.S. I think three messages are going out to make this one reply. Seems
counterproductive.


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