Home /
Palaeobotanical Tools /
Scanning- (SEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM)
Elizabeth B. Andrews (2009):
Windows
on a Lilliputian world: a personal perspective on the development of electron microscopy in
the twentieth century. Notes Rec. R. Soc.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also
here.
!
S. Asche et al. (2023):
What
it takes to solve the Origin (s) of Life: An integrated review of techniques. Free access,
arXiv.
!
Note figure 1: Comprehensive array of experimental and computational techniques,
along with conceptual bridges, which are primarily utilised in OoL studies.
"... We review the common tools and techniques that have been used significantly in
OoL [origin(s) of life] studies in recent years.
[...] it spans broadly — from analytical chemistry to mathematical models — and highlights areas
of future work ..."
A. Balzano et al. (2022):
Scanning
electron microscopy protocol for studying anatomy of highly degraded waterlogged archaeological wood.
Open access, Forests, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020161.
"... The applied SEM protocol allowed characterisation of the anatomy of the highly
degraded WAW [waterlogged archaeological wood] while
reducing the time required for sample preparation and examination under the microscope ..."
!
N. Barling et al. (2023):
A
unique record of prokaryote cell pyritization. Open access,
Geology, 51: 1062–1066, https://doi.org/10.1130/G51352.1.
"... We propose that spheroidal structures scattered
across the surface of Crato Formation insect fossils are fossilized prokaryotes,
likely coccoid bacterial body fossils
[...] These microorganisms were pyritized, covering decaying carcasses, 1.14 ± 0.01 ìm in size,
hollow with smooth surfaces,
and can be found as aggregates resembling modern prokaryotes, particularly, coccoid bacterial colonies ..."
C. Blanco-Moreno (2021):
Preparation
protocols for SEM visualization of charred fossil plants: the
case of Weichselia reticulata pinnule anatomy. In PDF,
Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 36.
See also
here.
C. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2020):
New
insights into the affinities, autoecology, and habit of the Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata
based on the revision of stems from Bernissart (Mons Basin, Belgium). In PDF,
7: 1351-1372.
See also
here.
Note figure 1: Representation of all the reconstructions of Weichselia reticulata to date.
!
A.J. Cole and G.E. Mustoe:
The
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY of GEORGE MUSTOE. In PDF.
!
B. Crair (2023):
The
Fossil Flowers That Rewrote the History of Life.
Free access, The New Yorker.
"... Instead of breaking rocks, she crumbled soft sediments into a sieve, washed away the sand grains in water, and saved the tiny specks of charcoal that were left behind.
[...] Fresh discoveries, she added, could radically change the known history of flowers.
[...] “A day in the field can be years of work in the laboratory.” ..."
John W. Cross, Missouri Botanical Garden:
Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM).
See also
here
(without frames).
Still available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
!
G.D. Danilatos, ESEM Research Laboratory, Sydney, Australia:
ESEM Development and its Future.
"ESEM is a new type of scanning electron microscope, which allows the examination of specimens in
the presence of gases. As a result, wet and dry, insulating or conducting and, generally, all specimens can
now be viewed with no or minimal preparation, in their natural state, or in vacuum".
R.N. DeKoster et al. (2023):
Characterization
of a pyritized fossil pollen cone from Clarkia, Idaho. Abstract,
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 318.
"... One specimen was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray analysis
(EDS). The only pyrite textures observed on this specimen were framboids and framboidal microcrystals.
[...] Underneath the pyrite coating, both the cones and stem were carbon-rich, indicating
organic preservation ..."
!
N.K. Dhami et al. (2023):
Microbially mediated fossil concretions and their characterization by the
latest methodologies: a review. Free access,
Front. Microbiol. 14: 1225411. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1225411.
Note figure 1: The three broad modes of fossilization.
Figure 5: Schematic of photic zone euxinia conditions, calcium carbonate concretion formation and in-situ fossilization, demonstrating the complex eogenetic (water column) and diagenetic
(sediment/water interface) processes which can be interpreted from molecular biomarkers.
Figure 6: Visual representation of the factors involved in formation of iron carbonate concretions in freshwater influenced environments.
!
Figure 7: Flow diagram for analytical methods applicable to microbial fossil concretions, modern and ancient.
!
Table 2: Brief summary of the various analytical techniques applicable to concretion analysis, as discussed in this review.
"... we provide a comprehensive account of organic geochemical, and complimentary inorganic
geochemical, morphological, microbial and paleontological, analytical
methods, including recent advancements, relevant to the characterization of concretions and
sequestered OM [organic matter] ..."
John Donovan, Micro Analytical Facility, CAMCOR Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in ORegon, University of Oregon, Eugene: Electron Microscopy Societies and On-line Journals, and EPMA & SEM facilities, World Wide.
J.M. Ede (2021): Deep learning in electron microscopy. Open access, Machine Learning: Science and Technology.
A. Fels, Fels Werkstoffanalytik, Stuttgart: Grundlagen der Raster-Elektronenmikroskopie mit Schwerpunkt Sedimentpetrographie. A tutorial (in German). See also: Literatur zur Raster-Elektronenmikroskopie.
! O. Gavrilova et al. (2017): Potential of CLSM in studying some modern and fossil palynological objects. Abstract, Journal of Microscopy, 00: 1–19. See also here and there (in PDF).
! F Grímsson et al. (2021): How to extract and analyze pollen from internal organs and exoskeletons of fossil insects? Open access, STAR protocols, 2.
G. Guignard et al. (2024):
TEM
and EDS characterization in a Bennettitalean cuticle from the Lower Cretaceous Springhill
Formation, Argentina. Free access,
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 320.
Note figure 7: Three-dimensional reconstruction of lower and upper cuticles of
Ptilophyllum eminelidarum.
"New cuticle samples from the bennettitalean Ptilophyllum eminelidarum were herein
studied using the combination
of light microscopy (LM), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), and element
analysis by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) ..."
!
B. Liu et al. (2022):
SEM
petrography of dispersed organic matter in black shales: A review. In PDF,
Earth-Science Reviews, 224.
See also
here.
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, London: Electron microscopy and mineral analysis. Techniques include electron probe microanalysis, inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, cathodoluminenscence etc.
!
L.C.W. MacLean et al. (2008):
A
high-resolution chemical and structural study of framboidal pyrite formed within a
low-temperature bacterial biofilm. In PDF,
Geobiology 6: 471-480.
See also
here.
"... A novel, anaerobically grown microbial biofilm, scraped from the inner surface of a borehole, 1474 m below
land surface within a South African, Witwatersrand gold mine, contains framboidal pyrite
[...] Growth of individual pyrite crystals within the framboid occurred inside
organic templates confirms the association between framboidal pyrite and organic materials in low-temperature
diagenetic environments ..."
R.L. Mitchell et al. (2023):
Terrestrial
surface stabilisation by modern analogues of the earliest land plants:
A multi-dimensional imaging study. Open access,
Geobiology.
Note figure 1:
Summary chart highlighting the evolution of different CGC elements [cryptogamic ground covers] from
contrasting molecular, phylogenetic and fossil dating methods, and schematic land plant
phylogeny of modern terrestrial organisms, focussing on
the bryophytes and specific liverwort genera.
! L. Muscariello et al. (2005): A critical overview of ESEM applications in the biological fiel. Free access, Journal of cellular physiology, 205: 328-334.
!
Imogen Poole and Geoffrey E. Lloyd (2000):
Alternative
SEM techniques for observing pyritised
fossil material. PDF file,
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 112: 287-295.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
J. Prokop et al. (2016):
Hidden
surface microstructures on
Carboniferous insect Brodioptera
sinensis (Megasecoptera) enlighten
functional morphology and
sensorial perception.
Sci. Rep. 6,
28316.
!
"... The broader application to the study of scarce insect fossils was accelerated
recently with use of ESEM, which makes it possible to study uncoated specimens using this non-invasive
technique ...".
!
Philip D. Rack, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Tennessee:
Materials Laboratory Procedures. Go to:
Optical Microscopy, and
Sample Preparation (PDF files).
The nuts and bolds of microscopy, including hints about sample preparation.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands:
Virtual Classroom Biology.
This website is an educational site,
especially meant for secondary school students who like to have a first glance on teaching
items of the Bio-science programs. One can find custom-made teaching material for
courses from the biology training. Navigate from here.
See especially:
Light
microscopy techniques.
Electron
microscopy (EM).
! I.A. Rahman et al. (2012): Virtual Fossils: a New Resource for Science Communication in Paleontology. In PDF, Evolution: Education and Outreach, 5: 635–641.
Information Technology Department, the UCSD Libraries and Academic Computing Services.
University of California, San Diego:
Web Course Notes and References,
Principles of the Transmission
Electron Microscope (TEM).
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
SCANNING. Scanning provides an international and interdisciplinary medium for the rapid exchange of information among all scientists interested in scanning electron, scanning probe, and scanning optical microscopies.
Science Learning Network (SLN):
Scanning Electron Microscope.
SLN is an online community of educators, students, schools, science museums and other institutions demonstrating a
new model for inquiry science education.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
!
A.C. Scott (2024):
Thirty
Years of Progress in Our Understanding of the Nature and Influence of Fire in
Carboniferous Ecosystems. In PDF, Fire, 7. 248. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070248.
See here
as well.
Note figure 7: The interpretation of the Viséan East Kirkton environment highlighting the role
of wildfire.
"... One of the basic problems was the fact that charcoal-like wood fragments, so often found
in sedimentary rocks and in coals, were termed fusain and, in addition, many researchers could
not envision wildfires in peat-forming systems. The advent of Scanning Electron Microscopy and
studies on modern charcoals and fossil fusains demonstrated beyond doubt that wildfire residues
may be recognized in rocks dating back to at least 350 million years ..."
!
J. Sremac et al. (2024):
Marine
microfossils: Tiny archives of ocean changes through deep time. Free access,
AIMS Microbiology, 10: 644–673.
DOI: 10.3934/microbiol.2024030.
Note figure 15: The summary of the applications of microfossils in biostratigraphy,
paleoecology and the study of raw materials.
"... The most common marine fossil groups studied by micropaleontologists are cyanobacteria,
coccolithophores, dinoflagellates, diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians, foraminifers,
red and green algae, ostracods, and pteropods
[...] By studying microfossils, paleontologists depict the age of the rock and
identify depositional environments ..."
!
E. Stabentheiner et al. (2010):
Environmental
scanning electron microscopy (ESEM)—a versatile tool in studying plants. In PDF,
Protoplasma, 246: 89–99.
See likewise
here.
T.N. Taylor (1968):
Application
of the scanning electron microscope in paleobotany. In PDF,
Transactions of the American Microscopical Society.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
D. Uhl et al. (2021): Menatanthus mosbruggeri gen. nov. et sp. nov. – A flower with in situ pollen tetrads from the Paleocene maar lake of Menat (Puy-de-Dôme, France). Free access, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 101: 51–58.
Giuseppe Vicidomini et al. (2008): High Data Output and Automated 3D Correlative Light-Electron Microscopy Method. In PDF.
U. Villanueva-Amadoz et al. (2012): Focused ion beam nano-sectioning and imaging: a new method in characterisation of palaeopalynological remains. In PDF, Grana, 51: 1–9. See also here.
J.P. Wilson et al. (2023):
Physiological
selectivity and plant–environment feedbacks
during Middle and Late Pennsylvanian plant community
transitions. Open access,
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 535: 361-382.
Note figure 1: Images of Late Carboniferous plant stems permineralized in coal balls.
"... we examine the vascular
anatomy and physiology of key lineages of Pennsylvanian plants: the sphenopsids, tree ferns, cordaitaleans,
medullosans, lycophytes and extrabasinal stem group coniferophytes. Using scanning electron and
light microscopy of fossilized anatomy, we provide new data on these plants’ vascular systems, quantifying
their physiological capacity and drought resistance ..."
! WWW-Virtual Library: Microscopy links. Aspects of light microscopy, electron microscopy and other forms of microscopy.
!
N. Zavialova and E. Karasev (2016):
The
use of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to reconstruct the ultrastructure of sporoderm. In PDF,
Palynology, : 89-100.
See also
here.
!
Note figure 2: Main stages of preparation for a scanning electron microscope (SEM) study of semithin sections.
M. Zhao et al. (2015): Anomozamites (Bennettitales) from Middle Jurassic Haifanggou Formation, western Liaoning, China. In PDF, Global Geology, 18: 75-87.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Category:Electron microscopy.
Scanning electron microscope.
Environmental
scanning electron microscope.
|
Top of page Links for Palaeobotanists |
Search in all "Links for Palaeobotanists" Pages!
|