RE: MRI those eggs

["Bonnie Blackwell, x 3332" <bonn@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu>]

you must be careful with either water or acetone.  

water- introduces modern contamination
        - swells clays
        - may cause mineralogical changes
        - will make it impossible to later biochemical or geochemical
           quantitative analyses

acetone - DISSOLVES ORGANIC MATTER!
        - INTROduces modern contamination
        -> makes later biochemical or geochemical quantitative analyses
                 impossible including all isotopes

with any such techniques you must first realize that by introducing such 
a modern substance, you have immediately rendered many other analyses 
impossible.

if you wish to sacrifice those other potential analyses, there may be
a benefit.  i would try out first with something that you can afford
to screw up, rather than a real egg.  for example make an egg bu filling
a chicken's egg with a few embryonic bones, add some calcite cement
by introducing a water rich in dissolved lime to the egg after you have
added the bones and some finekly ground limestone to the shell.  cook
this for a few months at 50-100oC to produce a sedimented egg shell
then try the impregnation technique and mri with and without impregnation.
it may not work, but at least you have just ruined a few $$ of modern
materials and 1-2 days work rather than an irreplaceable dino egg.

b

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bonnie Blackwell,                               bonn@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu
Dept of Geology,                                (718) 997-3332
Queens College, City University of New York,    fax:  997-3349
Flushing, NY 11367-1597