studying slip rates in the Northern San Andreas Fault

In the last two weeks we have continued the processing of the samples I talked about last time.

In the last entry I mentioned the multiple acid baths that each sample goes through. After this, each sample has been leached so much that quartz is pretty much all that’s left. However,

there are still large particles in the sample that need to be removed to continue processing. In order to get out the heavy magnetic particles I run each sample through a Frantz machine in the

Materials Separation Lab, which is really a large electromagnet that pulls out the heavy magnetic particles out of the sample. Next, a small portion of each sample is taken out for a Partial Sample Aliquot (PSA), where we learn what really makes up each sample. Later, samples are run through columns that remove the ions from the samples. In the end, we will pull Beryllium from the Quartz, which can be dated with its isotopes. If we know the ages for these rocks, we may be able to find out the slip rate for faults.