[meteorite-list] Oxygen isotopes

From: Jim Wooddell <jimwooddell_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:50:16 -0700
Message-ID: <AANLkTimBW6WpN5pfiXrrYs-AprABvkgMa+-+J_+s-buE_at_mail.gmail.com>

Good Morning Laurence, Carl and the list,

I am interested in this thread and honestly, I think Laurence's
estimate on labor rates is a tad bit low although I understand it was
a guesstimate. Typical loaded labor rates is very high if all is
considered...hourly wages/med benefits/retirement plans, etc.

A couple of things I am interested includes how are these departments
are funded?? Where does the money come from to support the
departments?
Secondly, comparing to the early 1990's, how many meteorites were
studied/processed then compared with today?? And, how much has
technology advanced the state of the art? Does the specimen owner
actually get charged any of the costs of the testing?

Kind Regards,

Jim Wooddell



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:08 AM, Carl Agee <agee at unm.edu> wrote:
> Hi Laurence and All:
>
> We are doing 16, 17, 18O on silicates from meteorites now by laser
> fluorination at UNM. Give us holler if you have something interesting!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Carl Agee
>
> PS: I agree -- for good data, lots of work and $$$
>
> Carl B. Agee
> Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
> Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
> MSC03 2050
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
>
> Tel: (505) 750-7172
> Fax: (505) 277-3577
> Email: agee at unm.edu
> http://epswww.unm.edu/iom/pers/agee.html
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Message: 15
> Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:22:43 -0700
> From: Laurence Garvie <lgarvie at cox.net>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] meteorite classification costs
> To: "meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com"
> ? ? ? ?<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Message-ID: <B118E029-438B-4AE7-9AF8-904CBE6B8A81 at cox.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> The question comes up from time to time about the cost of classifying
> a meteorite and also regarding turn around time.
>
> The actual cost varies significantly depending on the type of meteorite.
>
> For example, base cost for an equilibrated OC
> 1) thin section $30 (the cheapest part of the process)
> 2) two hours on a microprobe $200 (machine costs at cheap university
> rates and not including the time to set up the probe which can take
> several hours)
> 3) operator cost are more difficult to assess but I would imagine
> their two hours on the probe plus another hour or two of putting the
> data together and submitting it - so lets say another $200 minimum
> So around $500.
>
> Now for an unquilibrated OC (since you need a good spread of Cr2O3
> data) I would say at least eight hours on the probe so over $1000
>
> Now if you need oxygen isotopes, then this by itself could easily cost
> $1000 (plus the $1000 for the rest of classification). But good luck
> finding a lab to run the 16,17,18O isotopes. Most isotope labs only
> run 16O and 18O.
>
>
> In reality, the true costs are not passed on to the owner of the
> stone, but instead are borne by the institute undertaking the work.
> Some classifiers will charge a nominal fee to cover probe time, but
> again that is a small fraction of what it would cost if you wanted
> probe work done in a lab at industrial rates.
>
>
> Turn around time - days to years depending on how interesting the ?stone is.
>
> Laurence
> CMS
> ASU
>
> --
> ______________________________________________
> Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Mon 21 Mar 2011 12:50:16 PM PDT