Stereology in geosciences: achievements, difficulties and limitations
Abstract
The methods of stereological analysis find more and more applications in the quantitative evaluation of the geometrical structure of rocks and soils. To elucidate the origin of these materials the knowledge of their structures supplies significant information. Modal analysis of rocks is realized on a wide scale. A systematic progress is observed in the approach to the problem of mineral liberation. Some models are verified experimentally. Discovering the relations between the structure of the rock undergoing comminution and the new structure induced by the network of the crushing surfaces continues to be the program of investigations. The methods of a quantitative evaluation of the morphology of the discontinuity surfaces, both the natural ones, i. e. existing "in situ", as well as those induced in the strength tests are being developed. Methods of a quantitative evaluation of the pore structure of the soil are implemented. The intensification of the experimental studies, however, depends at least on two factors: progress in the methods of contrasting polished sections of rocks built of transparent minerals and the development of the methods of automatic analysis of complex structures of rocks and soils.