How do you get inside a dinosaur bone?
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Preliminary Work
Fossil specimens, being rare and impossible to replace, are carefully chosen and cared for during this destructive process. Specimens are photographed and drawn prior to any destructive analysis.
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Molding &Casting
Molding and Casting is done to replace or restore the original specimen.
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Cutting Fossil Material
Segments of fossil material are often removed, as opposed to using the whole bone whenever possible.
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Embedding in Resin
Fossil material is first embedded in polyester resin under vacuum.
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Cutting Embedded Specimens
Embedded specimens are then cut into wafers using diamond-bladed saws.
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Mounting Cut Wafer
Next, wafers are carefully polished prior to mounting onto glass slides.
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Grinding & Polishing
Mounted wafers are then carefully ground on a lapidary grinder.
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Finished Thin-Section Slides
Finally, finish polishing removes any scratches.Light can pass through the specimen and the fossil microstructure can be clearly seen!
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