Photonic microscope (transmitted, natural and fluorescent light)

Contacts :

Technical manager : Marielle Hatton
Scientific correspondent : Fatima Laggoun

Brand and model :

LEICA DMR XP

Principle :

  • Extraction and concentration of organic matter (OM) from soils, sediments and rocks
    • by acid attacks (HCl and HF) and mounting of slides
    • by densimetry (dense liquors) and inclusion of densimetric concentrates in resin followed by polishing of inclusions
  • Analysis of palynofacies by photonic microscopy in natural transmitted light and UV
  • Measurement of the reflectivity of vitrinite (on a hundred particles) by photonic microscopy in monochromatic natural reflected light (at 546 nm) and calibration against a standard

Objectives :

  • Palynofacies: Semi-quantification of organic constituents of soils and sediments and identification of their botanical precursors
  • Reflecting power of vitrinite: Characterization of the state of thermal evolution (rank) of the OM of soils, sediments and rocks and its petrogenic potential.

Pre-treatments :

Grinding if necessary, acid attacks, preparation of slides, concentration of OM by dense liquor, inclusion in resin

Results obtained :

Relative and semi-absolute quantities of organic constituents in the treated samples, reflectograms