Figure 23
SEM images of melted quartz grains on melted mudbrick from the palace. (a) Highly melted quartz grain; (b) manually constructed EDS-based phase map indicates center is pure SiO2 surrounded by melted mudbrick. Arrow points to vesicles indicating outgassing as grain temperature rose above ~ 1713 °C, the melting point of quartz. (c) The surface of a flattened quartz grain showing flow marks toward the upper right. High temperatures are required to lower the viscosity sufficiently for quartz to flow. (d) Manually constructed EDS-based phase map with an arrow pointing to vesicles indicating outgassing at high temperatures. (e) Close up of grain in panel ‘c’ showing flow marks (schlieren) at arrows. (f) Shattered, melted quartz splattered onto mudbrick meltglass; (g) manually constructed EDS-based phase map indicating that the blue area is SiO2; the yellow area is a shattered, thermally altered Fe-oxide grain.
