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o
photomicrographs
of slides of major microfossil groups in prepared, picked and smear-slide
form.
o photomicrographs of sandy
silt, silty clay, silty sand etc. (examples of various grain-size percentages).
o photomicrographs of various
calibrated carbonate percentages (percentage of calcium carbonate is commonly
over-estimated, sometimes drastically, from visual inspection of smear
slides).
o photomicrographs of lacustrine
sediments (perhaps illustrating the difference between salt- and fresh-water
diatoms, ostracods etc.)
o photomicrographs of smear
slides taken from different sedimentary environments.
o examples of unusual components
or megascopic sedimentary features.
o photomicrographs of calibrated
smear slides showing actual various percentages of different sediment grains.
For example, a slide showing 20% radiolarians, 20% zeolites, 60% clay gives
an idea of what these percentages look like in a real context. |
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o
a quiz/test component, where unknowns are randomly selected and the user
tries to identify them, or correctly estimate calibrated carbonate and
component percentages. Preliminary tests suggests that describers with
specialisms in particular microfossil groups commonly overestimate particular
microfossils according to their specialism. Again, sometimes drastically
so.
Eventually,
it may be possible to include a built-in aid to smear slide component identification
(i.e. a package whereby users enter observed descriptive information, e.g.
colour, form, shape, relief, birefringence, any pleochroism etc., and the
program produces a list of possible minerals or microfossils, along with
related information, such as associated minerals, occurrence, possible
sources, alteration products etc.)
Readers
will probably be able to think of other items that it would be useful to
include. If so, then please contact Guy Rothwell on R.G.Rothwell@soc.soton.ac.uk
Please consider if you would
like to contribute to this project and help in training core describers. |
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Go
to page 9 (EUMARSIN launch at EUROCEAN 2000)