Petrology collections

SCRAN rocks, fossils, minerals - thin sections

Petrographical (Polarizing) microscopes can be made available for examination of the thin sections.

The petrology collections are split between Keyworth and Edinburgh, with Keyworth housing most of the English and Welsh material, and Edinburgh the Scottish material. Several of the collections have been routinely sliced and thin sections prepared.

National sliced rock collection: England and Wales — 'E' Collection : approximately 73 000; Scotland — 'S' Collection: approximately 100 000
International sliced rock collection — 'F' Collection: approximately 10 000 [Keyworth]
Museum Reserve — display quality rocks and minerals: approximately 36 000 [Keyworth] includes 200+ samples of volcanic rocks from the Galapagos Islands, Reunion and Ascension Island donated by Charles Darwin in the 1840s.
Building stones — [Keyworth]
Miscellaneous collections — including collections made by such geologists as Murchison, Geikie and Teall; also donated collections e.g. Lindsey, Hall [Keyworth] and Knox [Edinburgh].

Specimens are available for study at either Keyworth or Edinburgh and a loan system is available to accredited scientists.

In Keyworth, the thin sections are housed in wooden cabinets and are arranged by collection and then numerically. The thin sections are labelled with where the sample was collected, the registration number, 1" & 6" sheet numbers and any processes applied to the thin section. The associated hand specimens along with rock specimens from the MR (Museum Reserve Collection) are housed on the 4th Level of the NGDC Tray Store.

In Murchison House, the mineralogy and petrology samples are held in numerous wooden, plastic and board trays, held in moveable racks.

Contact Materials Collections

For further information contact Materials collections

See also