Thermal Etching on Calcite Cleavages

Thermal etch pits are observed on calcite cleavages at very small range of temperatures in atmosphere. Different characteristics such as nonmovement of cleavage lines and dislocations, thermal percussion by gas molecules, are observed in thermal etching. It is found that chemical and thermal etching are not the same process for calcite cleavage etching. The origin of thermal etch pits is not at dislocations intersecting the cleavage surfaces.