Organic Petrology Lab
The Organic Petrology Laboratory is equipped with three research microscopes:
- Leitz Ortholux. This reflected and transmitted light microscope has a x50 oil immersion objective and is equipped with a Sony XC-75CE digital camera. Image processing is possible with the Leica QWin Pro Software. The microscope is used for coal petrology and determination of vitrinite reflectance in polished coal blocks and cold-set resin mounts of HF residues. A series of standards of known reflectance (0.42%, 1.23%, 3.28%, 7.56%) are used for calibration.
- Leitz Dialux 20. This reflected light microscope has an additional blue/ultra-violet source for fluorescence determination in organic matter and is equipped with 5 par-focal objectives (x4, x6.3, x16, x25 and x40). A JVC TK-C1380E colour digital camera captures images which are processed using the Leica QWinPro Software. The research microscope is used for palynofacies analysis and fluorescence determination of HF residues.
- Nikon Eclipse LV100. This reflected and transmitted light microscope has 5 par-focal Plan Fluo objectives (x5, x10, x20, x50, x100), a Prior Proscan II motorized stage system and a DXM1200C camera. Image processing, including z-stacking is possible with the Nikon NIS-elements software. The microscope is used for high-quality image capture for research and publications.
