Rock Thin Section Preparation

a short guide

Febryanto Masulili, S.T, M.Sc

V 1.0
Terminology
Thin section – (McGraw-Hill, 2003)
“A piece of rock or mineral specifically prepared to study its optical
properties; the sample is ground to 0.03-millimeter thickness, then polished
and placed between two microscope slides.”
 Tools and materials needed
Cut machine
Iron / tungsten plate

Polish machine

Microscope

• Petrology labs usually have two types of cutting machines. One for large-sized samples, and the
other for trimming rock chips.
• Polishing machines usually consist of 2 or 3. Each of them is used specifically adapted to the size
of silicon carbide.
• Iron / tungsten plate is used for manual polish on fine-sized silicon carbide (1000 - 6000). You may
also use glass plate for alternative choice.
• Polarization microscope is used to periodically check sample thickness. It is recommended to use
an obsolete one, never touch an expensive microscope with your dirty hands! Or, use polarizer
plastics as alternative, which you can get from Indonesian online store.
 Tools and materials needed
Silicon carbide Hot plate

Vacuum chamber

• Silicon Carbide is used as material removal. SC has various grit sizes (common for thin section):
#150, #400, #800, #1000, #2000, #4000, and #6000.
• Vacuum chamber is used to remove gases/air from compounds which become entrapped in the
mixture. To assure a bubble-free state when mixing resin.
• The hot plate is a vital device that is used in a petrology lab to heat samples. The fact that it has
the ability to heat the sample without any exposed flames is one of the major advantages. It is a
device that can be used on a daily basis for temperatures as high as 100 degrees and even higher.
 Tools and materials needed
Fast-cooling resin

Slow-cooling resin Microscope slide(with box)

• Glass slide is used as a platform for microscopic specimen observation. A range of standard glass
slide sizes are available for various special purposes, such as 75x50mm for geological use,
46x27mm for petrographic studies, and 48x28mm for thin sections. Slides edges are often finely
ground or polished.
• 3 common types of resins for petrology: slow-, fast-cooling, and cold mounting.
• Slow-cooling resin: Petropoxy 154 - specially developed for use in the preparation of petrographic thin sections.
• Fast-cooling resin: this type of resin hardens quickly - used to cover holes / cracks on the surface of the slab.
• Cold mounting resin: this type of resin hardens slowly and only requires room temperature (no need to be heated) - used to
make rock section molds for mineragraphic studies.
 Cold mounting resin,
special for mineragraphic studies

• Cold mounting resin: this type of resin hardens slowly and only requires room temperature (no
need to be heated) - used to make polished rock section for mineragraphic studies under refraction
microscope.
Purpose – before making rock chips
Fresh or not?
• A fresh rock sample is better, in case you are studying general petrology.
• This become exceptional for specific studies (eg. weathering, alteration).

Which portion you need?

You should check the lineation, lamination, contacts, minerals proportion,
cracks, etc... before cutting!
• Never cut your sample parallel to lamination!
• Always keep your half rock slab!
• Always annotate your sample with marker!
Using rock cutting machine in UNG lab
The following link is a post on geologi lab’s blog.

https://labgeologi-ung.blogspot.com/2016/02/membuat-rock-chip-untuk-
preparasi-thin-section.html

The content explain how to make rock chips (step by step), with some
technique tips, and how to use the machine wisely.
Manual polishing using silicon carbide
Now you have rock chips ready to polish!

• Step 1 – Start with SC #150

You only need to remove the cutting marks on the surface of your sample.
You can check the surface condition by utilize lights reflection.

Rock chip

If any holes/cracks exist, dry for 10 – 15 minutes using hot plate, set to 90-100°C.
Fill in some fast-cooling resin, dry for 30 minutes.
• Step 2 – SC #400
Remove resin mounds if any. Evenly press the sample. Polish until the entire surface
becomes flat and slightly shiny – use “lights reflection” method.

• Step 3 – SC #800, #1000, #2000, #4000, #6000

Evenly press the sample.
Maintain it’s flat surface – use “lights reflection” method.
Each time you switch the grits, the surface will be more shiny.
Make sure the surface remains flat. This will affect the quality of your thin section.
Always remember these important notes!
What will happen if you ignore the important notes in step 3?

Poor quality thin sections affects your

microscope observation results.
• Step 4 – Drying
Hot plate (90-100°C) ± 1-2 hours.
Or 24 hours without in room temperature.
Put your sample on the hot plate smooth side up.
Don't touch the surfaces!

• Step 5 – Resin preparation

Mixing petropoxy 154 thoroughly
Add the curing agent to the resin at the concentration of 10 phr (phr stands for parts per
hundred parts of resin, by volume). For example, to 5.0ml of Resin, add 0.5ml of Curing
Agent. Using one of the string rods provided, mix thoroughly for at least one minute, taking
particular care to frequently scrape the sides and bottom of the beaker with the stirring rod.
Put the beaker into the vacuum chamber. Vacuum setting: 60 – 70 nPa.
Wait for about 30 minutes, bubbles slowly disappear.
• Step 6 – Slides preparation
Slides must be clean and free of any film or dust. As they come from the box, slides
are usually sufficiently clean. Keep them covered.
Use special disposable wipes for lab. Using common tissues is not recommended,
because fibers from these materials will contaminate your resin / slide / thin sections. I
recommend “kimwipes tissue”.

• Step 7 – Mounting sample

Use the string rod to spread epoxy onto the smooth side of your sample.
Put the slide onto your sample. Use a rounded pencil eraser to work out
the bubbles by pressing gently in the middle of the slide and moving the
slide in small circles. Move the eraser around to slowly work the
bubbles to the edge of the slide until all gone.
Move the slide so that it is nearly centered over the sample, with an equal
space around three sides of the sample and a larger space at one end for
the sample number.
Set the sample in the hot plate (slide side up) to cure.
90 - 100°C ±1-2 hours.
Too high a cure temperature may result in cracked slides.
• Step 8 – Secondary cutting
Cooldown your sample, or turn off the hot plate.
Use medium- or fine-sized machines specifically designed for
trimming. Trim to a thickness no less than 3 - 4 mm.

• Step 9 – SC #150
Remove the cutting marks on the surface.
Ensure equal thickness! Don't press too hard!
Polish until you can see your finger through the sample.
• Step 10 – SC #400
Polish with the same technique.
until Quartz or K-Feldspar shows purple / blue under
microscope. (90µm, 2nd order).
Be familiar with the Michel Levy chart!

Quartz, K-Feldspar and Biotite at 90µm under microscope

Print version https://tinyurl.com/rtpe5n3
• Step 11 – SC #800
Polish with the same technique. Ensure equal thickness! Don't press too hard!
until Quartz or K-Feldspar shows purple - yellow under microscope.
(60µm, 2nd order to 1st order).

Quartz, K-Feldspar and Biotite at 60µm under microscope

• Step 11 – SC #1000
Polish with the same technique. Ensure equal thickness! Don't press too hard!
until Quartz or K-Feldspar shows yellow - grey under microscope. (40µm, 1st order).

Quartz, K-Feldspar and Biotite at 40µm under microscope

• Step 11 – SC #2000, #4000, #6000
Polish with the same technique. Ensure equal thickness! Don't press too hard!
until Quartz or K-Feldspar shows grey (only) under microscope. (30µm, 1st order).

SC #4000 and #6000

only for smoothing and
finishing.

Was your sample, wipe

the water using tissue,
put the sample number,
and now you ready to
observe!

Use thin section box for

keeping!

Quartz, K-Feldspar and Biotite at 30µm under microscope

It should be noted that these instructions may be more suitable for fresh samples.
For other samples such as weathered / altered rocks, sedimentary and pyroclastic rocks, or soft-
sediment unconsolidated material. They all need special techniques and treatments. Do not hesitate
discuss with me if you need.

I am sure, some students will fail at the first try.

Once you fail, evaluate your technique, and try again!
Try to make your own lab notes. Records everything what you did on your sample.

I appreciate if you use this short guide for study purposes only. But the most important thing is that
you can learn and make your own thin sections by yourself.

Happy Learning!
- @efbumi