The laboratory for microscopy focuses on the specific requirements of microfacies analysis of lake sediments, but also offers a wide range of possibilities for other applications. Sedimentological, petrographic and microfacies analyses on all kinds of covered and uncovered thin sections and polished sections with transmitted and incident light are performed.

The sample preparation laboratories provide facilities to prepare geological samples for a wide range of analytical methods. These include mineral separations for geochronologic analysis, mineral powders for geochemical analysis and polished thin sections for microscopy.

The laboratory for light microscopy provides light optical images with topography and element contrast. The Microscopy Lab is equipped with a number of optical microscopes with reflected and transmitted light illumination and stereo microscopes.