RUI: Acquisition of a Microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography System for Analysis of Geological and Biological Samples

0236775 Hagadorn在许多世界上最特殊的化石矿床中，从基质中提取化石是困难的，化石通常很小，以至于连续切片是统一的。 没有什么比新元古代更真实的了，那里的许多化石记录都是软体的，微观的，以3D保存的，和/或以不利于机械或化学提取技术的方式埋葬的。 微焦点X射线计算机断层扫描（microCT）能够无损可视化地质和生物样品的三维内部结构，并提供了一种新的方式来检查这样的化石。 这笔赠款将支持购买100 kV Skyscan 1072 microCT仪器，允许可视化和创建小至500 nm的结构模型。 该仪器将大大有助于本科生和教师的研究在阿默斯特学院，以及在其他五个大学联盟机构。

0236775HagadornIn many of the world most exceptional fossil deposits, extraction of fossils from the matrix is difficult, and fossils are often so small that serial sectioning is uniformative. Nowhere is this more true than in the Neoproterozoic, where much of the fossil record is soft-bodied, microscopic, preserved in 3D, and/or entombed in a manner inimical to mechanical or chemical extraction techniques. Microfocus X-ray computed tomography (microCT) enables nondestructive visualization of the three-dimensional internal structure of geological and biological samples, and offers a new manner in which to examine such fossils. This grant will support purchase of a 100 kV Skyscan 1072 microCT instrument, allowing visualization and creation of models of structures as small as 500nm. This instrument will contribute substantially to undergraduate and faculty research at Amherst College, as well as at other five-College Consortium institutions.***