It took longer than expected, but the first batch of plant samples is finally here! They had an arduous journey if the state of the box is anything to judge by, but the samples themselves are in good shape and they don’t show signs of mold. I can start the preparatory processing right away, and I should have them ready for chemical processing by the end of next week.
The first steps in processing the samples are physical. The samples need to be frozen for a few hours and then freeze-dried for a couple of days. Each point on the map is represented by a set of three samples, so once the samples in each set are freeze-dried, they’ll be ground up and mixed together to create one homogenized sample. The homogenized samples will then be processed chemically before they’re analyzed for strontium.
Twelve sets of samples are already in the freezer and will be moved to the freeze dryer by the end of the day. Exciting progress!
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