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

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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.***