Sedimentology tools
Imaging
An instrumental development for the continuous, very high resolution photographing of sedimentary cores and rock cylinders is being developed within the SEDIM platform. The photo bench is an instrumental development led by several CEREGE engineers and the engineering support of the INSU Technical Directorate. This bench images core sections with a pixel size of up to 7µm, which gives a maximum resolution of around 21µm. The bench translates under the camera lens using a 100µm precision stepper motor. A second stepper motor allows 0.01° rotations for cylinder images of rock cores. The mosaics provided are made, after correction of the images, with photogrammetry software.
Size distributions
. A Beckman Coulter LS 13320 laser particle sizer measures the diameters of sedimentary particles present in most of the media studied. Particle mixtures are measured from 2mm down to colloid sizes in one analysis. This equipment is associated with a fume cupboard preparation room (destruction of organic matter, carbonates, biogenic silica). An intercomparison of the measurements carried out on different granulometers of identical samples was carried out within the OSR (Observatoire des Sédiments du Rhône).
Lepage 2019, Lepage 2022
. A portable LISST Sequoia is used for fieldwork and comparison of results.
. Certified sieve columns of 20 and 10cm diameter with all mesh sizes, gauges and scales provide solutions for defining the textures of sandy and coarser cortèges, or even directly on the ground for pebbles, blocks and beyond, associated with 2 RETSCH automatic sieving machines for mechanical sieving.
. A FRITSCH Analysette 3 Pro sieve shaker for automatic wet sieving and mechanical sieving.
To complete the exploration of particles in mixtures both in the field and in the laboratory, the platform is equipped with :
. 3 Leica EZ4 magnifiers.
. Hach probes for physical-chemistry measurements
. Sampling poles; plankton net; Niskin bottle
. Ultrasonic tanks with or without heating
. 2 Narbertherm muffle ovens.
. 2 ovens MEMMERT 256 and 749L.
. Thermofischer Megafuge16.
. 3 Sartorius laboratory balances from 0.1 to 0.001g precision.
. Water filtration with pump and coffee machines (500mL and 1L) at 0.2µm.
Micro-paleontology and morphoscopy
A room equipped with a LEICA M125 apochromatic magnifying glass (allows 100 times magnification with great observation comfort). This magnifying glass is used to determine and count Ostracods taken from the sediments studied in the laboratory, and to count and classify quartz by morphoscopy.