An ultrasonic method for isolating nonclay components from clay‐rich material

Abstract

[1] We present an efficient method for high-volume heavy mineral separation from clay-rich rocks using an ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic clay separator (UCS) is an easily constructed device that allows for the recovery of high-density minerals, as small as 10 mm, with a minimum of sample preparation. Heavy mineral recovery from clay-rich material with the UCS yields a greater number of small (<100 mm) grains and approximately double the amount of material from that of gravity settling and decanting. Despite development with heavy mineral recovery in mind, the UCS should suitable for recovering small grain size geologic materials from flocculating clay-rich material.

Eolian cannibalism: Reworked loess and fluvial sediment as the main sources of the Chinese Loess Plateau

“…Zircon crystals were extracted from sediment samples by traditional methods of heavy mineral separation at the Arizona LaserChron center (e.g., Gehrels et al, 2011). To minimize the hydraulic sorting grain-size effects and thus loss of fine-grained zircons in eolian dust samples, we used the recently developed ultrasonic separation technique of Hoke et al (2014). Isotope ratios were measured using a Nu Plasma high-resolution (HR) multicollector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) and a Thermo Element 2 single-collector (SC) ICP-MS coupled to a Photon Machines Analyte G2 193 nm excimer laser.…”

An astronomically calibrated stratigraphy of the Cenomanian, Turonian and earliest Coniacian from the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA: Implications for global chronostratigraphy

“…Zircon and other U-bearing silicates were separated from bulk rock samples using standard crushing, heavy liquid, and magnetic separation techniques, and were subsequently handpicked under the binocular microscope based on clarity and crystal morphology. When grains were too small for standard crushing techniques they were separated by using a shatterbox and clay separator (Hoke et al, 2014). To overcome the effects of radioactive-decay-induced crystal defects and the associated lead-loss resulting in discordant analyses, zircon grains were pre-treated using a procedure modified after the thermal annealing and chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry method (CATIMs: of Mattinson, 2005).…”

High precision U–Pb zircon geochronology for Cenomanian Dakota Formation floras in Utah

“…In the lab, samples were soaked in water and disaggregated using an ultrasonic device with zircons and other minerals effectively separated from clays (Hoke et al, 2014). Further isolation followed standard procedures using high-density liquids and magnetic separation.…”