A new methodological approach to evaluate the mass and volume distributions of grains in an agglutinated foraminiferal test

Chemical maps and images were made of the test of Textularia earlandi, an agglutinated foraminifera, by ESEM-EDS (Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer). The specimen is about 300μm long, comprising 17 imbricated growth chambers. In order to evaluate the mass dist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Micropaleontology 2014-01, Vol.60 (1), p.5-12
Main Authors: du Châtelet, Eric Armynot, Frontalini, Fabrizio, Guillot, François
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Average linear density
Center of gravity
Density
Earth Sciences
Ecology, environment
Electrons
Environmental Sciences
Geometric shapes
Life Sciences
Mass distribution
Mineralogy
Minerals
Paleontology
Radius of a sphere
Sciences of the Universe
Specimens
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Summary:Chemical maps and images were made of the test of Textularia earlandi, an agglutinated foraminifera, by ESEM-EDS (Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer). The specimen is about 300μm long, comprising 17 imbricated growth chambers. In order to evaluate the mass distribution along the test, mineral grain densities, as deduced through chemical mapping, as well as the volumes of 650 grains, were treated by geostatistical methods. The volume of the imbricated spheres was 3D-modelled using the Monte-Carlo method. It is calculated that the volume of the chamber grows regularly. The mass of the chambers undergo some variation due to occurrence of various proportions of minerals with different densities. The mass distribution within each chamber is smoothly distributed. Further development on other protists with various shape and geometry could be easily imagined.
ISSN:0026-2803
1937-2795
DOI:10.47894/mpal.60.1.02