Researchers from the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) recently investigated samples, supplied by the Smithsonian Institution, of the Kaba and Allende meteorites. Although these objects had been studied before, the HIGP team had new questions bearing on the sequence of events in the early Solar System.
Subjecting the samples to direct ion imaging, spot measurements, and other techniques, they were able to make ultra-precise analyses of materials such as the meteorites’ calcium aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs).
The researchers found important clues that can help them map distinct stages in the CAI histories of these ancient objects.
The CAMECA IMS 1280 that the HIGP investigators used — and its even more advanced successor, the IMS 1300-HR³ — are invaluable tools for cosmochemists worldwide, as well as for researchers working on geochronology, trace elements, and environmental studies. In fact, CAMECA SIMS are the instruments of choice for researchers who need extremely high-precision, in situ, nondestructive measurement of isotopes and elements for almost all the Periodic Table at fine scale.
This brief report highlights some key measurement techniques — including cutting-edge microanalytical capabilities that your critical application may demand.