Laboratory of Micromorphology

Head Bruno Di Matteo, Portici office, bruno.dimatteo@isafom.cnr.it

Thin sections of soil or other porous material are produced for microstructure observations with light microscopy. Laboratory activities are carried out in the following phases:

- Choice of samples and sampling methods; Sampling. - Labelling of samples. - Dewatering or simple water removal. - Choice of resin to be used and timing of impregnation; Impregnation. - Processing of cured soil block (or other material). - Processing of thin sections. - Macroscopic and microscopic description of soil thin sections. - Image acquisition and analysis with specific software.

 – Video description of the production of thin soil sections – https://youtu.be/fWEUdl24MVA

Micromorphology Laboratory staff

Mr Bruno Di Matteo, Responsible and responsible for the preparation of thin sections

Dr. Giacomo Mele, Coordinator of Scientific Activities

Dr Laura Gargiulo, Experienced researcher in digital microscopic field acquisition and image analysis.

Micromorphology Laboratory Equipment

The main equipment in the laboratory is a Jones&Shipman 540X high-resolution plane grinding machine, an oil-cooled diamond circular saw, vacuum pumps, fume hood, and sample drying chambers.

The laboratory is also characterised by the presence of the 'Serial Sectioning Automatic Tomograph' (SSAT), a specific automatic three-dimensional image reconstruction system of the soil pore system and porous media in general, developed at the Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forestry Systems-CNR in Herculaneum.

 – SSAT functioning video clip – https://youtu.be/yrf0mtTQW_8