Three-dimensional Raman imagery of precambrian microscopic organisms |
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| Authors: | J. W. SCHOPF A. B. KUDRYAVTSEV |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP-Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095–1567, USA; IGPP-Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095–1567, USA |
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| Abstract: | Two major difficulties have long hindered studies of ancient permineralized micro‐organisms: (1) accurate documentation of their three‐dimensional morphology at micron‐scale resolution; and (2) direct characterization of their molecular‐structural composition. Here we introduce a technique new to palaeobiology, the three‐dimensional Raman imagery that meets both of these needs, which is a nonintrusive, nondestructive technique that can provide data by which to accurately and objectively characterize, in situ and at micron‐scale resolution, the morphology and molecular‐structural composition of permineralized micro‐organisms and their associated matrices. Application of this new technique can provide information about the morphology, taphonomy and fidelity of preservation of fossil micro‐organisms unavailable by any other means. |
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