Micropalaeontology

The laboratory includes a new Zeiss Axio Scope.A1 microscope equipped with circular and linear polarization and condensers and objectives optimized for high magnification viewing (1000x) of calcareous nannofossils. A 14 bit (6 M px resolution) digital camera coupled to the Zen software permits the highest quality digital image acquisition. Processing algorithms in Matlab (C-Calcita by Miguel Angel Fuertes) and Fiji Image J (custom) are implemented to calculate coccolith thickness from birefringence.