Abstract
A wide variety of wet and dry sieving techniques are used in micropalaeontology for the separation of calcareous, siliceous and phosphatic microfossils, and palynomorphs in palynology. Sieving sorts and concentrates microfossils from processed residues, as the material is size classed, assisting in the examination of prepared material under the microscope. For the operator less eye strain occurs when material of the same size grade is examined, as there is less need re-focus and adjust the microscope. Residue subsamples derived from either wet or dry sieving can be further treated by concentrating techniques (e.g. decanting, heavy liquid separation, centrifuging, electromagnetic separation), to obtain even richer residues through removal of the non-fossiliferous fraction. These specialist techniques are outlined in subsequent procedures (see sections 18 MECHANICAL SEPARATION OF MICROFOSSIL RESIDUES and 19 FLOTATION AND LIQUID SEPARATION TECHNIQUES).
Published Version
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