COMPUTER-TOMOGRAPHY - A NONDESTRUCTIVE, HIGH-RESOLUTION TECHNIQUE FOR INVESTIGATION OF SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES

Knowledge of sedimentary structures is very important to many marine geoscientific disciplines. However, the conventional method of detection, X-radiography, is of limited value wherever full round samples are used, although the resolution may be enhanced by the use of high-resolution radiographs of sediment slabs with thicknesses of 7-10 mm. This method is destructive, and not really suitable for full round sediment cores or when slabbing is impossible, as in the case with small-diameter cores. These problems can be avoided by the use of computer tomography, a nondestructive method for the investigation of sedimentary structures. Besides not disturbing the sample material, a higher resolution image of the structures can be achieved. Further, computer storage of the data permits postprocessing, such as the generation of 3D images. © 1990.