Crushing rock

These rock samples contain a mineral called anorthoclase that we are interested in using for argon dating. We get at first by breaking the rock down into smaller and smaller pieces, starting with this piston crusher. Large samples are broken up with a hammer, placed in the metal cylinder inside a mixing bowl and crushed in the piston crusher. We get the large 6-10" samples down to ~1 inch or less.

Next the samples are placed in a little crusher or mill where we get pieces down to a few millimeters in size.