Welcome to Geosec Slides
A resource for geologists, amateur and professional, to aid the study and identification of rocks minerals and fossils.
Thin Section Microscope Slides of Rocks and Fossils
Geosec specialises in the production and supply of thin section microscope slides used as one of the two main methods of rock classification (the other being chemical analysis). Viewing thin section slides enables the geologist to identify the constituent minerals and textures of the rock. This, with information gathered from the site of collection, provides evidence of its chemical composition and the manner of its creation.
The slides reveal fascinating and beautiful internal structures, opening a window to parts of our world normally invisible. View through a microscope a hidden universe of colours and shapes, spectacular and intriguing, even without specialist knowledge.
What is a Thin Section?
It is a slip of rock, mounted on a glass microscope slide, and ground very thin. 30 Microns is the ideal thickness. (A standard piece of paper is 100 microns thick) At this thickness virtually all rocks are transparent, and the individual minerals that make up the rock can be seen and identified. When viewed through a polarising filter interference colours can be seen, a similar effect to oil on water. This too is used as an aid to identification.
Study of thin sections is a part of nearly all higher level geology couses, and experience in mineral identification is gained by viewing as wide a range of thin sections as possible. Geosec offers a large selection of slides from localities worldwide.
*NEW* Panoramas *NEW*
We are pleased to offer a choice of two high quality panoramas of the Ardnamurchan Volcanic centre. Locally called the ‘Volcano’ or the ‘Crater’, neither of which is correct as it is the eroded remains of the magma chamber. It does look like a crater when one stands in the centre, surrounded by cliffs and hills nearly 200 meters high.
The panoramas are taken from hills on the southern (top image) and western edges respectively, and show the ‘crater’ rim and the inner rings for which the area is famous, plus some of the offshore islands. A larger view of one of the panoramas can be seen on the ‘About’ page of this website.
The prints are 30” by 10” aprox (76cm x 24.5cm) photographic prints with a satin finish, supplied rolled in a tube.
Geosec cannot supply frames, but a frame 88cm x 30cm may be purchased from Ikea for £12.59 at the time of writing, available in various finishes. Please note that the internal mount supplied with the frame is not the right size to fit the print… (Ikea ref. RIBBA)
Prices as follows;
1 to 4………………………….£7.45 each plus £2.00 postage
5 (or multiples of 5)…..£5.00 each plus £3.00 postage
20………………………………..£3.75 each plus £5.00 postage
To order please contact Geosec through the contact page, or see Geosec Slides ebay shop.
To Buy a GeoScope
Click on the button at the bottom of the page, and you will be taken to the secure Paypal payments page where you cand send make a payment by Credit Card or Debit Card, or from your paypal account. You do not have to register with Paypal to do this.
It is strongly recommended that you read the information about the GeoScope, and test out the free demonstration version download, before making a purchase.
Postage charges and delivery
There is a flat rate postage charge of £2.00 Domestic (First class post) or International by air mail. GeoScopes will normally be dispatched next working day, Monday to Friday. There is no post from here on Saturdays.
THE GEOSCOPE.
What is it?
It is computer software.
It is designed to replicate a petrological microscope and set of thin section microscope slides at a fraction of the cost of the real thing.
It is a ‘Virtual’ Microscope
Who is it for?
- Amateur geologists and enthusiasts who do not possess a petrological (polarising) microscope, but wish to view thin sections.
- Students or anyone wishing to improve their recognition of rock types and minerals.
- Individuals or organisations interested in rocks and thin section study, but that are unable to afford the cost of microscope and sets of slides.
What are you buying?
You will receive a 2GB USB Memory stick (worth about £8.00 on its own)
This is loaded with the GeoScope program and R1 basic slideset containing 25 ‘virtual’ slides.
There is 850MB unused storage space on the drive for the buyers own use.
NEW
Now available with the ‘R1 plus’ slideset. This contains an additional 12 ‘virtual’ slides, high magnification views of some of the slides in the ‘basic’ set. These have been added to give better views of selected minerals.The cost is equivalent to £1.00 per slide. Actual thin section microscope slides cost about £10.00 each, and a microscope? From £500 to £3000.
Try before you buy.
To try out a Demo Geoscope and for more information Click Here
System Requirements
To run the GeoScope you will need A Windows or Mac Computer
For Windows
- Windows XP, Vista, or 7.
- Pentiun Processor 1.5 GHz or preferably faster; 1GB installed RAM Memory or more.
- USB 2.0 port
For Macs
- OS X.
- PowerPC G4 or intel processor. 1GB Memory or more.
- USB 2.0 Port.
To view the whole GeoScope interface at once requires an 1100 X 800 pixel screen
If in doubt Try the Demo
Browsers
The GeoScope is basically an interactive webpage, and needs to be run from an internet browser. Nearly all computers have a browser preinstalled, but your default browser may not be the best one to run the GeoScope.
| Safari 4 | Windows or Mac | - Recommended. |
| Opera 9.6 or later | Windows or Mac | - Recommended. |
| Chrome 3 or 4 | Windows or Mac | - Recommended. |
| Internet Explorer 8 | Windows | - Recommended. |
| Internet Explorer 7 | Windows | - Moderate performance. |
| Mozilla Firefox | Windows or Mac | - Poor performance. Not recommended. |
| Internet Explorer 6 or earlier. | - Will not work. |
Limitations.
The rotation of the slide is limited to 45 degrees in each direction (i.e. 90 degrees in total) This limitation is a result of the maximum pratical file size for each slide.
The resolution or sharpness of the images is limited by the resolution of the screen (i.e 72 dots per inch). This will never be as good as viewing a slide through a microscope eyepiece, where no such limitation exists.
Click on the button below, and you will be taken to the secure Paypal payments page where you cand send make a payment by Credit Card or Debit Card, or from your paypal account. You do not have to register with Paypal to do this.
It is strongly recommended that you read the information about the GeoScope, and test out the free demonstration version download, before making a purchase.
Buy a GeoScope
Postage charges and delivery
There is a flat rate postage charge of £2.00 Domestic (First class post) or International by air mail. GeoScopes will normally be dispatched next working day, Monday to Friday. There is no post from here on Saturdays.
Did something go wrong?
You may have just tried to purchase an item from Geosc Slides.
If this was the case and something went wrong, please let us know and we will try to correct the problem. You can contact us via the contact page on this website, or by email to rob@geosecslides.co.uk
If you still wish to make the purchase, but do not wish to use Paypal, we accept Sterling cheques or money orders. Please contact us as above or by post to
Geosec Slides
Cnoc Na Sith
Achnaha, Kilchoan
ACHARACLE
Argyll
PH36 4LW
Please make cheques payable to R Gill.
If we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Rob Gill
Geosec Slides