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Acid Maceration

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Acid maceration is a technique used to extract organic-walled microfossils or kerogen from rock. A rock sample is cleaned to remove external contamination and crushed into small pieces. About 25 mg is macerated in chlorhydric acid solution (HCl) to remove carbonate minerals, rinsed with distilled water, and then macerated in fluorhydric acid solution (HF) to remove silicate minerals. A following step of boiling the macerate in hot HCl removes fluorides formed during the previous acid step. This protocol may vary according to the nature of the rock, of the fossils, and of their degree of preservation. After neutralization of the final macerate with distilled water, the residue is filtered on sieves of desired size fractions, then mounted on microscopic slides or kept in vials for other analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Palaeobiogeology-Palaeobotany-Palaeopalynology, University of Liège, 17 allée du 6 Août B18 Sart-Tilman, Liège, 4000, Belgique

    Emmanuelle J. Javaux

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  1. Emmanuelle J. Javaux
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Correspondence to Emmanuelle J. Javaux .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Javaux, E.J. (2014). Acid Maceration. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_20-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_20-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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