PhD student Stephanie Bates from the University of Bristol visited BOSCORF to take SEM micrographs of benthic foraminifera. Her PhD project involves measuring Ba/Ca in benthic foraminifera and using this as a proxy for seawater alkalinity. Before measuring trace metal ratios such as Ba/Ca in foraminifera collected from marine sediments, it is necessary to clean them using a series of reagents intended to remove different contaminants. The SEM micrographs show the physical effects of the cleaning procedure on the foraminifera.
For more information please contact Stephanie Bates (s.bates@bristol.ac.uk)