An Alternative Embedding Method for Thin Section Preparation of Lake Sediments

Embedding soil samples with Vestopal (Chemische Werke Hüls) or Palatal (BASF) polyester resin was described by Altemüller (1974), Altemüller and Vorbach (1987), or Tippkötter (1986). We have modified this method and applied it to lake sediments. The following steps are necessary: dehydration by acetone, replacement of acetone by Palatal, hardening of Palatal, sawing, polishing, and mounting on glass slides. The advantages compared to other methods are very good embedding qualities of different sediments and moderate costs of the embedding resin. The expensive and slow dehydration with acetone and the time consuming embedding are the disadvantages of this method.