T28. High-resolution chemical and textural imaging techniques as analytical tools in Earth Sciences

Improving the visualization of objects is mandatory in Geology where the description of morphological, as well as chemical, mineralogical and physical features of samples is needed. The scientific study of rocks started with the advent of the polarizing microscope while a second major step coincided with the development of SEM and TEM techniques. During the last decades imaging tools based on spectroscopies have accelerated our possibility to study with an unprecedented resolution fossils minerals and rocks. Fast computers nowadays allow creating 2D and 3D images from arrays of analytical points providing accurate and high-resolution textural representations and distributions of chemical elements, trace to ultra-trace constituents, isotopes, oxidation states, porosities etc. Very recently, the in-house availability of 3D techniques like tomography, traditionally restricted to large-scale facilities, has provided a significant impetus to the spatial analysis for applications from structural Geology to ore Mineralogy, Cultural Heritage, Biomineralogy, etc.
This session aims at bringing together all scientists working with the improvements of imaging methods and is open to any type of technique for any application. We believe that, considering the availability of novel technologies and computational methods, the use of these tools for solving specifical issues in Geology is only limited by fantasy.