This week Elaine McPherson and Charlotte Lloyd (M.Sc. students) from Teesside University have been carrying out a series of flume experiments in collaboration with Dr Charlie Thompson (University of Southampton). They are investigating the effect of sediment flow on the surface topography of submerged bones.
The experimental phase involves the exposure of submerged bone samples to sediment of varying grain sizes using an annular flume. Bones were submerged over a 72 hour period with samples removed after 24, 48 and 72hrs. They have been examining the effect of sediment impact using the Hitachi TM1000 Tabletop Microscope; comparing scanning electron micrographs taken before and after submersion at x100 and x1000 magnification.
The following are some example images taken over the course of the experiment.
X100 micrograph of bone section after 72hr exposure to large gravel
X100 micrograph of bone section after 48hr exposure to medium gravel
X1000 micrograph of bone section after 48hr exposure to silt
