The study of rocks and minerals is a very specialised area of Hobby Microscopy. Although some hobbyists are fascinated by this area, they are few and far between. With the exception of crystals (see separate Topic), it lies mostly outside of the skills of beginners and young people.

Studying rocks and minerals invariably means creating thin rock sections. This is the show-stopper for most hobbyists, as it mreans grinding quite hard substances down to extremely thin sections.

Maybe a visit to this page in Belgium to see thin rock sections will interest you.



 

The Importance of Studying Rocks in the Search for Petrol.

Sedimentary rocks Petroleum may occur in any porous rock, but it is usually found in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone or limestone. Sedimentary rocks are grouped into three major classes: clastic, carbonate, and evaporitic.

A greatly magnified image of a sandstone as seen in a thin section of the rock under the microscope. The scale is equal to one millimetre. The rock sample was injected with blue-coloured epoxy that is seen here filling pores which are interconnected (permeable).

After plastic is injected and solidified, the rock sample is cut and polished on a glass slide to a thickness of 35 thousandths-of-an-inch. The "thin section" of the rock is thin enough to permit light to be transmitted through it as in this photomicrograph.

I think you can probably understand that the study of thin rock sections is outside the scope of most hobbyists.