I have more than seven samples so Ill probably need to make two mounts. How do I decide which samples to put on which mount in order to be the most efficient with my analytical time?
There are several issues here. If you have to deal with samples with large grains and samples with small grains, then segregating the mounts by grain size is perhaps the most important criterion. If grain size is not an issue and you are dealing with detrital samples, you should segregate them by priority: #1 and #2 go on one mount; #3 and #4 go on the other, and so on. For mounts of igneous or metamorphic samples, the top priority samples (#1, #2, #3, etc.) can go on one mount and lower priority samples (#7, #8, #9, etc.) can go on another (again, if grain size is not an issue). Some users like to make separate mounts for zircon, monazite and titanite; this is not necessary, but it does reduce the number of standard rows required for a particular mount. Similarly, it may be desirable, but not absolutely necessary, to segregate older samples (>~1 Ga) from younger ones (see next FAQ).
