UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN KIMIA

GEOLOGY AND DRILLING LABORATORY
(CGE 558)

NAME : MUHAMMAD HAZIQ HAIKAL BIN AHMAD TAMIZI

STUDENT NO. : 2017466044
EXPERIMENT : THIN SECTION AND PETROGRAPHY
DATE PERFORMED : 25TH SEPTEMBER 2019
SEMESTER :6
PROGRAMME / CODE : EH243
GROUP :6

No. Title Allocated Marks (%) Marks

1 Abstract/Summary 5
2 Introduction 5
3 Aims / Objectives 5
4 Theory 5
5 Apparatus 5
6 Procedure 10
7 Result 10
8 Calculations 10
9 Discussion 20
10 Conclusions 10
11 Recommendations 5
12 References 5
13 Appendices 5
TOTAL MARKS 100

Remarks:
Checked by: Rechecked by:
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Table of Contents
1. ABSTRACT/SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 2
2. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 2
3. AIMS/OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 3
4. THEORY ................................................................................................................................ 3
5. APPARATUS ......................................................................................................................... 4
6. PROCEDURE ........................................................................................................................ 7
7. RESULT ................................................................................................................................. 8
8. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................... 11
9. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................. 11
10. RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................. 11
11. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 12
12. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 13
1. ABSTRACT/SUMMARY

Every rock has its own characteristics and properties such as permeability and porosity.
This experiment which is thin section and petrography will provide us the detailed descriptions of
rocks by its image. These two terms which are petrography and thin section is related closely to
each other. To get the petrography of a rock, the thin section procedure must be done. It is basically
a laboratory preparation of rock or soil to be use with petrographic microscope. The rock needs to
be cut first into 3-5 mm thickness using rock cutting machine. After that, attach it at microscope
slide with an optical adhesive. Then, before we put it under a microscope, the rock needs to be thin
out using the lapping machine to the thickness of 30-50 µm to get more details on the picture of
the rocks. From the microscope, we can see the formation of the rocks by its porosity and structure
of the rock. We also can identify the minerals that contain at the surface of the rocks. From the
observation, we can conclude that those rocks have different structure, minerals and porosity.

2. INTRODUCTION
In geology, rocks are a naturally occurring and the combination of one or more minerals.
Its can be divided into 3 groups which are igneous rocks that solidified from molten magma that
came for underground, sedimentary rocks which are the fragments of pre-existing rock and
metamorphic rocks, that form from the igneous and sedimentary rock under high temperature and
pressure. From this 3 groups, there are many other groups of rocks that divided into the originality
and their formation process. That’s why petrography and thin section will help in identifying these
rocks.

In petrography, it focused on the detailed or prescriptions of rocks. Someone who studies

petrography is called petrographer. The mineral content and the structure of the rock is been
describe detailed under the usage of petrographic microscope. From those characteristics, the rocks
can be classified into several groups according to their origin and mineral content. Petrographic
descriptions start with the field notes at the outcrop and include macroscopic description of hand
specimens. However, the most important tool for the petrographer is the petrographic microscope.

To get the description of the rock, thin section procedure must be done first. It is a lab
preparation of a rock by using the petrographic microscope. A thin-smoothly-cut rock is prepared
by cutting it with a saw. It is then mounted on a glass slide and then the thickness is been reduce
by using lapping machine until the sample is only 30-50 μm thick. The method involved using the
Michel-Lévy interference color chart. Typically, quartz is used as the gauge to determine thickness
as it is one of the most abundant minerals.

3. AIMS/OBJECTIVES

To identify the mineral content and the structure of a rock under a microscope. To see the
cross section of the rock.

4. THEORY

The study of rock minerals and textures is called petrography. It can be gained using
polarized petrographic microscope.

The rock must be cut first into the smallest thickness about 3-5 mm then further thinning
out into 30-50 μm to be seen under the polarized petrographic microscope. The rock must be in a
smallest thickness because we can see the structure clearly and can identify the mineral content by
letting the light from the microscope pass through the rock.

The type of microscope that will be use is polarized petrography microscope. This
microscope is designed to observe and photograph specimens that are visible primarily due to their
optically anisotropic character. In order to accomplish this task, the microscope must be equipped
with both a polarizer, positioned in the light path somewhere before the specimen, and an analyzer
placed in the optical pathway between the objective rear aperture and the observation tubes or
camera port. Image contrast arises from the interaction of plane-polarized light with a birefringent
(or doubly-refracting) specimen to produce two individual wave components that are each
polarized in mutually perpendicular planes.

The velocities of these components, which are termed the ordinary and the extraordinary
wavefronts are different and vary with the propagation direction through the specimen. After
exiting the specimen, the light components become out of phase, but are recombined with
constructive and destructive interference when they pass through the analyzer. These concepts are
outlined for the wavefront field generated by a hypothetical birefringent specimen. In addition, the
critical optical and mechanical components of a modern polarized light microscope are illustrated
in the figure.

Figure 1: Polarized Light Microscope Configuration

5. APPARATUS
 Metkon geological cutter

Figure 2: Rock cutting machine

 Thin section lapping machine

Figure 3: Metkon thin section lapping machine

 Polarized petrographic microscope

Figure 4: Olympus polarized petrographic microscope

 Microscope glass slide

Figure 5: Microscope glass slide

 Microscope glass slide’s adhesive

Figure 6: Norland optical adhesive

6. PROCEDURE
Rock cutting machine

1) Get ready with the rocks that want to be tested and put it into the rock cutting machine
properly
2) Clamped the sample firmly in the clamping device
3) Before start cutting, checked the path of the flange. If the black knob and the screw pin
can touch the flange, re-positioned the vise assembly
4) Wore a proper PPE such as safety glass, glove and mask before start cutting the rocks.
5) Switched on the power supply, turned on the light and don’t forget to close the hood
and pressed the start button.
6) Took the cut-off wheel slowly towards the sample and do not use excessive force,
wheel breakage may occur.

Thin section lapping machine

1) Before using this machine, prepared the samples by sticking it onto a glass slides by
using an optical adhesive.
2) Waited for 5-10 minutes for the adhesive to dry out and the sample of the rocks stick
properly on the glass slide.
3) The lapping procedure can be started by switching on the power supply and turned on
the light before lapping.
4) Opened the cover and put the slide/sample on the position and turned on the vacuum to
make sure the glass slide was attached to the port.
5) Then, closed the cover, turned on the water and press the start button to begin lapping
procedure.
6) Adjusted the thickness knob into 30-50 μm to be use in the microscope later.
Polarized petrographic microscope

1) Let the sample dried under the sunlight for 5-10 minutes to remove the water from the
surface of the rock.
2) Put the glass slide onto the circular rotating stage.
3) Use 4x, 10x and 20x lens to observe the details in different distance.
4) Adjust the focus knob to get much clear view for each lens on each sample of rocks.

7. RESULT
Rock sample 1

Figure 7: Rock sample 1 under 4x lens

 Figure 8: Rock sample 1 under 10x lens
Rock sample 2

Figure 9: Rock sample 2 under 4x lens

Figure 10: Rock sample 2 under 10x lens

Figure 11: Rock sample 2 under 20x lens

8. DISCUSSION
From the observation of the polarized microscope, we can see that both rocks have different
structure and color. The real color of the rocks cannot be seen clearly for both sample because of
the error of using the polarized microscope. There is a problem with the microscope because it is
not services for a long time. So, the structure and mineral content cannot be identified clearly
through the lens. Furthermore, the usage of microscope also not guided by interference color chart
and identification chart for the rock-forming minerals. That’s why the mineral content cannot be
identify. In addition, during lapping procedure, the thickness of the sample not achieve 30 to 50
μm because the thickness knob of the lapping machine is no functional.

Aside from the error, we can say that the porosity of both rocks’ sample is quite good. This
is because its show the void space in the structure of the rock especially under 10x lens. For rock
sample 1, we can observe that the structure of the rock is quite same as

9. CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the mineral contents and the structure of the rock can be identified form both
sample if it is conducted properly. Due to some error in this experiment, the mineral contents of
the rock sample cannot be identified due to poor image quality. The structure of the rock is clearly
different for both samples. Furthermore, the color of the rocks also a little bit wrong during the
observation under the polarized microscope. So, the objective of the experiments is not achievable.

10. RECOMMENDATIONS
 During cutting procedure, try get the smallest thickness because it can reduce the time
during the lapping procedure. Lapping procedure usually takes a long time to get 30-50
μm.
 During lapping procedure, do the check ups on the compressor water tank because
sometimes the water has risen to the maximum level. With the full tank of water in the
compressor may affect the vacuum on the glass slide and the lapping procedure would be
interrupted.
 Sunbathe the sample of the rocks first before taking it under the microscope to remove the
water. The water will interrupt the image of the rock’s structure under the microscope.
 Use the interference color chart as guide to identify the color of the rock’s structure when
using polarized microscope.
11. REFERENCES
 Rock (geology). (2019). Retrieved 5 October 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_(geology)
 Carmichael, R. S., & Klein, C. (n.d.). Rock. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/science/rock-geology/Thermal-properties.
 Rock Thin Sections (Petrographic Thin Section Preparation) - Kemet. (2019). Retrieved 5
October 2019, from https://www.kemet.co.uk/blog/petrography/rock-thin-sections
 Thin section. (2019). Retrieved 5 October 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_section
 Petrography. (2019). Retrieved 5 October 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrography
 Robinson, P. C., & Davidson, M. W. (n.d.). Polarized Light Microscopy. Retrieved from
https://www.microscopyu.com/techniques/polarized-light/polarized-light-microscopy.
 Waters, D. J. (2004, June). Rocks under the Microscope. Retrieved from
https://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~oesis/micro/.
12. APPENDICES