RADIUS – rapid particle analysis of digital images by ultra-high-resolution scanning of thin sections

RADIUS is a newly developed particle-size measurement technique, based on evaluation of digital images of thin sections. Analyses are performed with sub-millimetre sample resolution and are thus designed to work on a single lamina of laminated sediments. The method covers grain sizes from medium silt to coarse sand. The application contains pattern-recognition modules that allow the detection of typical particle distributions of loess, organic detritus, turbidites and tephra layers. Cutting and hiding effects of particles on thin sections are corrected by empirical correction matrices. The calculated analysis results are compared with manually counted and measured samples to calibrate the application settings. The method can be applied to all fine-grained clastic sediments, particularly to laminated lake sediments.