14 November 2013

Agates

Two photos from the Nikon Small World photomicrography competition for 2013.  The top image is of a polished slab of Teepee Canyon agate (credit Doug Moore, UW Stephens Point).

The second one puzzles me.  It is a thin section of a dinosaur bone preserved in clear agate (credit Ted Kinsman, Rochester Institute of Technology).  I am surprised that the geologic processes that form an agate wouldn't destroy the fine structure of bone matrix.  You learn something every day.

6 comments:

  1. rockyNovember 14, 2013 at 2:02 PM

    You could think of it as chalcedony replaced Dinosaur bone. It's (believed to be) a somewhat different process than that which forms "fortification" agates (like the Tepee canyon above).
    Probably the same process that forms Petrified Wood which is notorious for preserving cell structure

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  2. kenjuNovember 14, 2013 at 11:28 PM

    I have long been fascinated by images from electron microscopy.......these are wonderful too.

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  3. rockyNovember 15, 2013 at 12:44 PM

    Agates are endlessly fascinating, I just noticed that many of the openings in the Dino bone appear to be small fortification agates. The ones with cloudy centers.

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    Replies
    1. MinnesotastanNovember 15, 2013 at 6:11 PM

      Rocky, go here -

      http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/

      - and type "agate" in the search box.

      Enjoy.

      Delete
  4. bunnitsNovember 16, 2013 at 10:40 AM

    Amazing what new worlds open to us with photomicrography

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