Electron microscopy reveals unique microfossil preservation in 1 billion-year-old lakes

M. Saunders, Charlie Kong, Sarath Menon, D. Wacey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Electron microscopy was applied to the study of 1 billion-year-old microfossils from northwest Scotland in order to investigate their 3D morphology and mode of fossilization. 3D-FIB-SEM revealed high quality preservation of organic cell walls with only minor amounts of post-mortem decomposition, followed by variable degrees of morphological alteration (folding and compression of cell walls) during sediment compaction. EFTEM mapping plus SAED revealed a diverse fossilizing mineral assemblage including K-rich clay, Fe-Mg-rich clay and calcium phosphate, with each mineral occupying specific microenvironments in proximity to carbonaceous microfossil cell walls.

Original languageEnglish
Article number012024
JournalJournal of Physics: Conference Series
Volume522
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

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