Hello! I have a bit of a struggle with my diatomites samples. I have tried all the methods to break the diatoms from the rock but I got a negative results (they are highly silicified) and I want to count the species on the rock surface. I didnt find yet any literature which will fit my needs. Do you know any unconventional method to help me to count them? Or are they any other methods where can be approximate the % of diatoms?
I use mostly the SEM, but with it seems to take ages...
Hi Emilia
Good question!
How large is the typical search area and the rocks?
Did you use tile scanning mode and automatic image processing?
Good luck!
Hello Denis!
Thank you for your question. I try to make the rock sample 1*1 cm, although I cannot really cut it because it will create a flat surface.
I have access to a very old SEM, so I have to count the frustules myself or take a picture, then count the frustules with a software like ImageJ, but errors can occur very easily.
Cheers,
Emilia
This is how the rock sample is looking like, so it can be very difficult to distinguish some of the species and I dont know which method to apply to find how much % of each sp. I have in the sample.
- Badges
- Science method