Flatonia Texas Eocene Diatomite thread

[miha]

Only half a slide with sediment searched and already many beautiful diatoms found.
Sample: K7

[bill2penn]

Dear Michel,
WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!

Beautiful!
Best,
Bill

[anne]

Dear Michel,
you must have worked on the samples day and night...
This is aboslutely fantastic!
Best
anne

[Peter T.]

Hi Michel,

this is really amazing! What a beauty. Thanks for your work and passion.

Best
Peter

[Michael K.]

Hi Michel,

That's a really great picture. Is it a specimen posed like that, or is it just arranged on the computer?



All:
Möchtet ihr nur Übersichtsbilder oder auch Einzelbilder mit verschiedenen Ansichten?

Translate:
Do you only want overview images or also individual images with different views?



LG
Michael

[anne]

Lieber Michael,
jedes Bild von Dir ist erwünscht und gern gesehen, also Detail und Übersicht.
lG
Anne

[miha]

Hi Michael,

I have selected these diatoms and mounted them on the underside of the cover glass.
Will add a picture of the slide itself.

BR,
Michel

[Jürgen Boschert]

Hi Michel,

this slide is a masterpiece, then.

By the way, your brightfield image of this slide is also outstanding.

Thanks for sharing!

[Michael K.]

Hello, thank you for the picture. That's an excellent specimen.

I'm nowhere near that stage yet. I'm still in the purification process.

Since I only have 12% hydrogen peroxide, it's taking a bit longer.

I take some of the sample and heat it in 20 ml of hydrogen peroxide with a little bleach. When I use Sparkleen or something similar, it foams too much, even though I'm only using a few grains in 20 ml of hydrogen peroxide. It's still very gritty at the moment.

Some of the diatoms are now sand-free, but most of them aren't.

Right now, I'm letting it simmer gently.

It's possible that this method isn't the right one. Are there any tips on how I could speed it up?

Regards,
Michael

[bill2penn]

Hello Michael,

My "standard" method to clean these samples is as follows:

2 grams of diatomite, 4 grams of SHMP, and 150mL of 12% H2O2 are heated to boiling for 2 or 3 hours (with a glass dish filled with water on top of the beaker to act as a condenser).

Dilute with water, let settle for 2 hours, then carefully decant supernate.

Sometimes I will sieve at this stage with 15 micron mesh, but lately I've just taken it on and save sieving to the end.

Add 0.15 grams of Sparkleen along with 100mL of water and boil for 1 or 2 hours using the water filled dish on top of the beaker as a condenser.

Dilute with water, let settle for at least one hour, then carefully decant supernate.

Check forms under scope. If they still have "crusts" on them, repeat Sparkleen treatment.

Once forms are free of any adhering bits, sieve using 15 micron mesh.

I will be happy to answer any questions.

Bill

P.S. I forgot to mention that Sparkleen contains base, and this will catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide so that's why you get so much frothing when you add Sparkleen to H2O2.

[miha]

Hello, thank you for the picture. That's an excellent specimen.

I'm nowhere near that stage yet. I'm still in the purification process.

Since I only have 12% hydrogen peroxide, it's taking a bit longer.

I take some of the sample and heat it in 20 ml of hydrogen peroxide with a little bleach. When I use Sparkleen or something similar, it foams too much, even though I'm only using a few grains in 20 ml of hydrogen peroxide. It's still very gritty at the moment.

Some of the diatoms are now sand-free, but most of them aren't.

Right now, I'm letting it simmer gently.

It's possible that this method isn't the right one. Are there any tips on how I could speed it up?

Regards,
Michael

Hi Michael,

I think that Bill has already answered all the questions.
The only thing that is different is that I use large beakers for the whole process.
I use 2L beakers with around the 250-300ml H2O2 12% and around the 2 grams of SHMP.
A good cleaning takes a lot of time.

Have a nice day,
Michel

[miha]

Hi All that gives a reply on the picture with the arrangement,

Thanks for the compliments.

Michel

[Michael K.]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. I made the mistake of using beakers that were too small and adding the Sparkleen in the second hydrogen peroxide run.

No wonder it foamed too much.

I'm now using larger beakers and will only use the Sparkleen with water.

Michael

[Michael K.]

Hallo,

hier weitere Bilde aus Probe K7 mit ähnlichen Formen.




LG
Michael

[Michael K.]

Hallo,

Ich habe das Material (K7) nun 3 Stunden in einem 300ml Becher und  H2O2 kochen lassen. Nach dem Abkühlen habe ich eine kleine Menge testweise in ein kleines Becherglas umgefüllt, mit Wasser aufgefüllt.
Dieses durch ein 25 Mikrometer Filter laufen lassen um die feinen Partikel zu entfernen.  Einige Diatomeen sind auch frei. Aber es sind immer noch grössere Bröckchen übrig die sich aber leicht mit einer Nadel zerdrücken lassen. Darin sind auch Diatomeen enthalten
Ich denke ich muss den Kochvorgang wiederholen um alles klein zu bekommen.  Was meint Ihr?  Ist da was falsch gelaufen? 
Ich habe die Befürchtung das die Bröckchen durch einen weiteren Kochvorgang nicht kleiner werden.

LG
Michael


Translate:
Hello,

I boiled the material (K7) in a 300ml beaker with H2O2 for 3 hours. After it cooled, I transferred a small amount into a small beaker as a test and filled it with water.

I then filtered this through a 25-micrometer filter to remove the fine particles. Some diatoms came out, but there are still larger clumps left, which can be easily crushed with a needle. These also contain diatoms.

I think I need to repeat the boiling process to get everything smaller. What do you think? Did something go wrong?

I'm worried that the clumps won't get any smaller with another boiling.

Best regards, Michael


PS: I dont have SHMP / I had only Tabs for Dishwascher is it the same?