January 12, 2012
We spent our day in the amphibolite facies working on sampling blocks and rinds for Julia's MS project. In the morning we tried sampling with our rock saw. This rock saw has been quite the experience all along. We got it to work and made four parallel slices in a rock. However, after those four slices, it decided it had enough, and we couldn't get it to start again. Also, when we tried to chisel out the slices, they came out in flakes - not ideal.

So, for the afternoon, we decided to go to one of my favorite locations on the island - Ripper's Cove. There are several loose boulders that are garnet amphibolite blocks that have rinds on the edges. We spent our afternoon hammering away at several of these and came away with several samples. While some of the sampling was frustrating, I believe we came away with the best samples we could - a success!

The background image for this page shows my favorite block and rind from Ripper's Cove.