Applications of Slide Scan Images of Thin-Sections in Sedimentological Studies

Abstract

Several conventional and unconventional digitization tools have been used to improve viewing
and acquisition of information in the field of sedimentology and sedimentary petrology, in
geology and in science and technology in general. Slide scan images of sedimentary rock thin-
sections provide inexpensive, very good, whole thin-section views at magnifications similar to
those of the conventional microscope. This paper demonstrates how slide scan images can be
obtained and how they can quickly be used to gather detailed textural, structural and
compositional information of sandstones at microscopic scale. The method has been used in
studying features such as grain size, grain shape, fabric, contact between grains, graded
bedding, cross lamination and porosity without the need for polarizing microscope and
photomicrograph. This unpopular, unconventional method is not known by most researchers
even though it can provide alternative means of obtaining vital geological information relevant
to both the academia and the industry. This method is also recommended to teachers in low-
equipment universities and research centers where research petrological microscopes are
either absent or inadequate or during periods of lock-down.