Using Meigen's staining for aragonite-calcite identification in fossil molluscan shells under the scanning electron microscope

Abstract

A staining method was successfully exained to distinguish aragonite from calcite in the fossil shells of some Cenozoic molluscs under the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The internal morphology and mineral phase of the shells can be observed simultaneously by this method. The most suitable preparation was found in the samples which were polished, etched and stained with Meigen's solution for ten minutes at 70°C. Any applications of Feigl's staining to the aragonite-calcite dentification were not successful in this study, because the large sizes of the precipitated grains (1-2 μm) in diameter) prevented precise distinction of the minerals under SEM. -from Authors