Backscattered Scanning Electron Microscopy and Image Analysis of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

by David H. Krinsley, Kenneth Pye, Sam Boggs, Jr, N. Keith Tovey

Overview

Backscattered scanning electron microscopy (BSE) reveals the minerals, textures, and fabrics of sediments and rocks in much greater detail than is possible with conventional optical microscopy. Backscattered Scanning Electron Microscopy provides a concise summary of the BSE technique. This comprehensive guide uses abundant images to illustrate the type of information BSE yields and the application of the technique to the study of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The authors review the use of this petrographic technique on all the major sedimentary rock types, including sediment grains, sandstones, shales, carbonate rocks, rock varnish, and glauconite. They also describe image analysis techniques that allow quantification of backscattered scanning electron microscope images. Heavily illustrated and lucidly written, this book will provide researchers and graduate students with the most current research on this important geological tool.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521019743
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2005
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	8.15(w) x 10.28(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Professor Ken Pye is an internationally renowned geomorphologist and sedimentologist who is the author or co-author of numerous books and journal articles. In addition to his current role as Director of Kenneth Pye Associates Ltd he has held academic appointments at the universities of Cambridge, Reading and Royal Holloway, London. Currently he is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton. His books include Aeolian Dust and Dust Deposits (1987), Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes (2009), Saltmarshes (Cambridge University Press, 1992) and Sediment Transport and Depositional Processes (1994).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The nature of backscattered scanning electron images; 3. Sediment grains, weathering, and early diagenetic phenomena; 4. Sandstones; 5. Shales; 6. Carbonates; 7. Desert (rock) varnish; 8. Glauconite; 9. Image processing and image analysis.

Editorial Reviews

"This book documents the positive impacts of two devices, the backscattered electron (BSE) analyzer and the digital image analyzer, on the quality of sedimentological research with the modern SEM...the book is well written. It was edited by four authors who are experienced in this aspect of sedimentary petrology and well regarded by their peers, and it contains many clear, high-quality reproductions of SEM microphotographs...I am certainly glad to have it on my shelf, because...it is a landmark in its field." EOS

"I felt that I had a lot from the examples presented in this book, and that they had provoked a number of new ideas. Throughout, I gained the impression that the intention was not to simply present a review of previous applications, but instead to show how many new things could be done...I think that the book will be useful source for ideas for academic and professional geologists, and geotechnical companies and researchers. Worth having." Geological Magazine July 2001

From the Publisher