[meteorite-list] Dumb Question - Micro Mount

From: walter branch <branchw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:13:10 2004
Message-ID: <008801c30c71$c10b8020$91c39f44_at_l1s2m3>

Hi Bob,

There really is not a hard and fast definition of a micromount.
It has generally come to mean simply a small specimen that
perhaps might fit in a small, say one inch container. It has more
to do with size than weight. You are correct, if cut thin some
micros have very large surface areas. I have a .47 gram slice
of Zagami that is 10 x 15 mm. It is a micromount.

You will also see occassional reference to a "macro"mount.
This is simply a larger micromount. My own personal
criteria is such that weight begins to matter when I am
looking at what someone calls a macromount.

You will also occasionally see reference to a "thumbnail" specimen,
which is a term generally used in the larger rock and mineral
collecting world. Meteorite collectors don't usually use this term.
I am not entirely sure but the term thumbnail
and micromounts may in somewhat interchangable.

Hope this helps (but probably not).

-Walter
---------------------------------------------
www.branchmeteorites.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Martino" <martino.6_at_osu.edu>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2003 11:48 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Dumb Question - Micro Mount


> All,
>
> Can anyone give me the strict definition of a "micro mount" or "micro" for
> short?
>
> I assume that this means a "tiny piece of meteorite" but how tiny,
exactly?
> Is it anything less than a gram? Less than half a gram?
>
> Or does micro refer to the visible area of the specimen instead of size?
For
> example, I have a Martian meteorite slice that is about 0.3 grams but is a
> full centimeter square. Would this be a micro mount?
>
> Also, I assume that to be a true "micro" the specimen needs to be
displayed
> in a small container - one of those round plastic boxes with cotton
inserts
> or perhaps a membrane box. Is this correct?
>
>
> -----
> Bob Martino, Tucson, AZ
>
> Can you really name a star? Read the Truth!
> http://home.columbus.rr.com/starfaq/
> .
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sun 27 Apr 2003 12:02:00 AM PDT