I am trying to extract possible Loriciferans from mudstone, attempts with acetic acid (15%) and chloridric acid (37%) have failed to dissolve the rock, would a higher concentration (50%) of HCl work? or would it be necessary to use a different acid altogether?
Use monochloroacetic acid please. It is the most common one for de-carbonatization in mineralogy and sedimentology. It decomposes carbonate but does not affect phosphates of the apatite group.
H.G.Dill
Loriciferans are primarily suited to life in anaerobic conditions. I believve you should check the phophate level in the matrix and then proceed with acidic dissolution. As Prof. Harald G. Dill has stated Monochloroacetic acid is regularly used, but anoxic sediments form phosphatic minerals differently than sediments in dysoxic or oxic conditions. Since in anoxic environments iron-phopshate minerals serve as sinks for phosphates use of a mineral acid could prove to be useful in rotation with organic acids. You can also pass a current through the decalcifying electrolyte as it will introduce greater ionic seperation and might even require lower concentrations of the acid.
Just my two cents
Regards
Dr. Abhishek Mukherjee
You know a large numbers of the fossils in carbonate rock is calcarous so the monochloroacetic acid will dissolve them, one of the best way for extracting fossil in the carbonate rock is dessagrigation the rock by freezing until it be a sand size or less than sand and after that boling it on hotplate until all diseagrigate, then make sieving to separate the size of sediments and make a picking of fossils under microscope for each size as we do for shale and marl fossil extracting.
Have you ever thought trying fluorhydric acid the same way radiolarian specialists do? Usually loriciferan tests should be replaced by fluorite and liberated from embedding matrix.
Good luck!
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