Search results for "Thin section"
showing 10 items of 20 documents
Ceramic raw materials: how to recognize them and locate the supply basins—mineralogy, petrography
2020
This tutorial paper is focused on the mineralogical-petrographic characterization of clayey raw materials with the purpose of sourcing supply basins and answering questions about the provenance of the corresponding archaeological ceramic artefacts. The first part gives general indications of how to profitably study archaeological ceramic thin sections through the polarizing microscope. Brief notes are provided on the theoretical basis of optical microscopy. A scheme is then provided for the petrographic description of ceramic samples, concerning the textural and compositional characteristics of aplastic inclusions and groundmass. Suggestions are also given for identifying any minero-petrogr…
Introducing anatomical techniques to subfossil wood
2018
Abstract Successful cross-dating of subfossil wood, ideally in combination with precise information on germination and dieback, requires the accurate detection of tree-ring width (TRW) boundaries along continuous measurement tracks from pith to bark. However, wood decay and the mechanical deformation of cells often challenge the dendrochronological analysis and subsequent paleoclimatic and environmental interpretations. Here, we show that wood anatomical techniques can improve the assessment of heavily degraded and/or deformed material. We apply state-of-the-art sample preparation, thin sectioning and double-staining to a unique collection of Late Glacial pines that were growing ∼13,000 yea…
ANALISI ARCHEOMETRICHE SU CERAMICHE DA FUOCO TARDOANTICHE DA DYRRACHION (ALBANIA): NUOVI DATI.
2010
This work, together with a paper previously published on LRCW2, allows a first classification of the ceramic manufactures wellmatched with the geolithological characteristics of the district of Durrës (Albania). In the earlier phase of the research archaeological and archaeometric studies were carried out on selected samples representative of cooking ware forms brought to light in late roman layers of abandonment of a thermal complex located in Dyrrachion (Durrës) and dated back to the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The polarizing microscope observation of thin sections permitted the petrographic classification of 10 selected samples into 5 ceramic pastes, which wer…
Calibration of LA-ICP-MS via standard addition using dried picoliter droplets
2020
A novel microanalytical calibration approach for quantitative spatially resolved analysis of thin layered materials with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is presented. This method relies on standard addition via the generation of dried pL-droplet residues. Therefore, a drop on demand dosing device based on a modified commercial ink cartridge and a dosing interface, both accessible via a self-constructed microcontroller, were developed. This dosing device enables the precise deposition of pL-droplets onto solid samples for the generation of residues with dimensions in the low μm-range. The LA-ICP-MS analysis of such residues allows calibration over at l…
RADIUS - rapid particle analysis of digital images by ultra-high-resolution scanning of thin sections
2005
RADIUS is a newly developed particle-size measurement technique, based on evaluation of digital images of thin sections. Analyses are performed with sub-millimetre sample resolution and are thus designed to work on a single lamina of laminated sediments. The method covers grain sizes from medium silt to coarse sand. The application contains pattern-recognition modules that allow the detection of typical particle distributions of loess, organic detritus, turbidites and tephra layers. Cutting and hiding effects of particles on thin sections are corrected by empirical correction matrices. The calculated analysis results are compared with manually counted and measured samples to calibrate the a…
Archaeometric evidence attesting production of indigenous archaic pottery at Monte Polizzo (Western Sicily)
2012
Excavations at the proto-urban indigenous settlement of Monte Polizzo (western Sicily) have not yielded so far any evidence of in-situ ceramic production (i.e. kiln structures). However several archaeological concerns put forward to consider it as a likely production centre of pottery during the Archaic age. In this paper a first attempt to check the compositional correspondence between ceramic fabrics and local clay sources has been made. A comprehensive archaeometric investigation of native pottery, mainly composed of matte-painted table ware dated from the 7th to the 4th century BC, recovered from the Acropolis of Monte Polizzo has allowed the identification of five distinct ‘Paste Compo…
Morphometry of microstromatolites in calcrete laminar crusts and a fractal model of their growth
1996
The laminar crust, constituting the upper part of calcretes (terrestrial CaCO3 accumulations inside surficial sediments), is a succession of thin layers of various colors and shapes resembling micro-stromatolites. The crust structure and its diagenetic evolution are similar to stromatolites. A quantitative study of its structure was made using image analysis. Euclidian parameters were calculated to describe lamina shape. Eight hundred and eighty-six laminae were divided into six classes from the flatest forms to columnar shapes. The geometrical relationships between the shapes are interpreted as steps in the growth process of the microstromatolite. A fractal model of laminar crust growth wa…
?Short Distance?-Variabilit�t der Na-Gehalte niedrigmetamorpher mit Albit ber�hrungsparagenetisch koexistierender Hellglimmer
1973
White micas coexisting with albite, quartz, chlorite, and clinozoisite in low-grade schists of the Beaume Valley (Massif Central, France) have been analyzed by standard microprobe techniques. As the micas of an albite-rich thin section show significantly higher Na-contents than those of an albite-poor one of the same rock sample, the application of the muscovite-albite-geothermometer results in inconsistent temperature values. Thus the analyses may indicate that the distribution of sodium between coexisting white micas and albite not only depends on temperature and pressure but also on the chemical potentials of the alkalies in the metamorphic fluid phase.
Nature and origin of natural Zn clay minerals from the Bou Arhous Zn ore deposit: Evidence from electron microscopy (SEM-TEM) and stable isotope comp…
2016
International audience; Zn-clay minerals have been found in the non-sulfide deposit of Bou Arhous (High Atlas, Morocco). They occur as white or ochre clays embedding willemite (Zn2SiO4) and are commonly associated to red detrital clays in karstic cavities. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses were combined in order to characterize the clay minerals and to determine the mechanism of their formation. XRD patterns on oriented and powdered clays and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analyses suggest that fraipontite is the major Zn clay phase (with some smectite interstrat…
Two-dimensional apparent microfabric of the basal Late Weichselian till and associated shear zone: case study from western Latvia
2008
The examination of glacial sediments in thin sections has become a common procedure in recent years. Apparent sand grain orientation (microfabric) in thin sections is one of the key elements marking certain microstructures. In an attempt to make till micromorphology studies less subjective and investigate the orientation of sand-sized particles in tills, we have developed an image analysis procedure to measure and analyse the spatial distribution of the till microfabric. We studied 13 thin sections of the Weichselian subglacial till and basal shear zone outcropping in the Baltic Sea bluffs at the Ziemupe site in western Latvia. The results were visualized as a two-dimensional grid of rose d…