Researchers from Bremenhaven have made this interesting sample of a volcanic ash available to us, which we analyzed with our Coxem Tabletop SEM-EDX. In addition to the sponge structure of the fine ash particles typical of volcanic eruptions, we identified various microfossils, so-called diatoms.
One of the documented species occurs spatially very limited, and thus allowed the researchers to assign the center of the eruption to a volcanic group on the northern island of New Zealand.
In addition to a geographical localization, the documented diatom assemblage also provided valuable ecological information about extinct lacustrine biotopes at the time of the eruption - from a time approximately 28,000 years before today.
More information about the method can be found on our SEM-EDX overview page or in our SEM-EDX guideline.
If you would like to carry out similar analyses or are interested in your own SEM-EDX system, we look forward to hearing from you.
