Dredging is a process for the extraction of microfossils. Here, fossils larger than 0.063 mm (nanofossils) and smaller than about 2.0 mm (macrofossils) are extracted as sieve residue of a sediment sample. The finer sediment is rinsed away with running water.

The microscopic analysis of microfossils or sedimentological specimens is part of the basic training in palaeontology. Microfossils are often not visible in the field with the naked eye or a magnifying glass. Nevertheless, in order to determine whether a rock contains microfossils, thin sections (slices of rock a few tenths to hundredths of a mm thick) are made from a rock sample, in which cross-sections of microfossils may be visible under the microscope. The microfossils can be obtained by …

The core of the laboratory is a Raman micro-spectrometer. The spectrometer is equipped with a cryostat serving as a planetary simulation chamber which permits simulation of environmental conditions on planetary surfaces, namely pressure (10⁻⁶ hPa – 1000 hPa), atmospheric constituents, and temperature (4 K – 500 K). The laboratory is also equipped with preparation facilities for analog materials. The samples which are analyzed in the laboratory range from minerals, Martian analog material, …

In the Rock-Lab thin-section, thick-section, polished-section and separation work can be used for teaching and research. The thin-section preparation is an important method for working on paleontological, geological and mineralogical questions.

The scanning electron microscope provides microphotographs with up to five thousand times magnification. The generated images are images of the object surfaces and have a high depth of focus. Objects from micropaleontology such as foraminifera, ostracods and gastropods are routinely analyzed with the aid of this instrument. For this purpose a ZEISS SUPRATM 40 VP Ultra with a thermal field emission cathode (with variably adjustable pressure for detailed topographic imaging of non-conductive …