THE USE OF DIGITAL IMAGE-ANALYSIS IN THE STUDY OF LAMINATED SEDIMENTS

The use of digital image analysis for the investigation of many natura l phenomena is not novel. A vast amount of literature exists on its ap plication to the study of a diversity of physical characteristics from many environments. The power of this tool is now being realised, howe ver, in the study of sediments, from both marine and lacustrine enviro nments. The advent of image processing applications for use in a perso nal computing environment, and the availability of high resolution dig ital video cameras, are serving to bring the technique to the desktops of many researchers. This paper will attempt to review those techniqu es which may be found useful by researchers contemplating the use of i mage analysis in this type of study, and in particular those who need to count laminations in order to construct a chronology, or to compile time series from lamina thickness or composition, for comparison with those derived from other datasets. Much of the information may be fou nd already in print, but it derives from many disciplines, and does no t seem to have been documented previously in this connection.