Scott, Andrew C. and Collinson, Margaret E. (2003) Non-destructive multiple approaches to interpret the preservation of plant fossils: implications for calcium-rich permineralisations.. Journal of the Geological Society, 160 (6).
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Permineralized fossil coniferous woods from the Pliocene of Dunarobba, Umbria, Italy, and the Jurassic of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, were studied using non-destructive techniques on uncoated polished thin sections to elucidate their preservational history. Specimens were observed using transmitted light, polarized light, reflected light under oil, and cathodoluminescence. Selected areas were studied using a variable pressure SEM in backscattered electron mode. This allowed uncoated specimens to be examined and elemental distributions to be determined using an energy dispersive X-ray microanalyser. The data were used to interpret details of the permineralization history. Results reveal that anatomical interpretations based merely on observations of thin sections in transmitted light can be very misleading and could potentially affect the application of permineralized plant fossils, for example, in evolutionary biology, palaeoclimate analysis and isotope geochemistry.
This is a Published version This version's date is: 2003 This item is peer reviewed
https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/523010ec-5022-907b-bec2-4cfeb37241fc/1/
Deposited by () on 23-Dec-2009 in Royal Holloway Research Online.Last modified on 23-Dec-2009
This material has been published in Journal of the Geological Society of London 160, 857-862, the only definitive repository of the content that has been certified and accepted after peer review. (Copyright © 2003 The Geological Society of London) Research Group website: http://www.gl.rhul.ac.uk/palaeo/palaeo.html.