Fluorescence intensity studies of Triassic acritarchs from the Yanchang Formation in Ordos basin, northwestern China

Abstract

Fluorescence properties of Early Cambrian acritarchs were investigated using Leica das Mikroskop (DM) microscopy with a mercury lamp. Well-preserved autoflurescence properties show a correlation between acritarchs morphology and the intensity of emitted fluorescence. In accordance with the fluorescence intensity of organic cell walls, two groups of microfossils were distinguished. Results of observation in this study, which are consistent with those of the previous foreign studies, are in good agreement with regular difference in autofluorescence intensity among palynomorphs reported by McPhilemy (1998). Spores and algae, including Botryococcus, have very bright fluorescence while acritarchs often show less intense fluorescence. Dark brown microfossils have been reworked, and have little or no fluorescence.