This DVD
includes a collection of 82 virtual thin sections. You can access
these samples and also obtain some
general information on carbonate rocks and this tutorial by
browsing through the links to the left in the menu bar. There is a
glossary section to help you with terminology and a literature section to direct
you to other good resources for learning about carbonate rocks.
Thin-sections can be browsed and accessed in three major ways--by age, at random, and through an advanced search. The age search is based on the geologic periods. The advanced search allows you to look for thin-sections based on very specific parameters, including title, library number, description, porosity, age, location, rock type, grains, cement, and replacement. The random pick will automatically select for you ten thin sections to help you quiz yourself on what you've learned.
Navigation functions in this tutorial have the look and feel of a website, but the material is accessed entirely from the tutorial's DVD, which is set up to operate as if it were a server (packaged using DWebPro). The 82 thin-sections are provided in layered Adobe PDF format. All of the samples have one layer depicting the sample in plane-polarized light and additional layers containing scale grids. Most samples also have a layer that contains a cross-polarized image.
After you have opened the thin-section in the PDF viewer, open the layers panel on the left-hand side of the screen. You can use the pdf zoom function to enlarge the image up to 800% to view small features. In the uppermost right corner, above the image, there are information hotspots. Roll your mouse over the icons to view the hotspot information. The right-most hotspot contains the general database information on the sample. The spot adjacent on the left contains commentary on the theme of the sample---why it was chosen and what you should seek to learn from it. The image itself is marked with information hotspots. Roll over them with your mouse to reveal the hidden information about specific features. As you learn, test yourself: Try to identify the feature and then reveal the hidden information to see if your identification was correct.
To close the program there are two options:
1. Click on the "Close" link button at the bottom of the left-side menu to shutdown DWebPro, the tutorial program, and close the web browser.
2. Shutdown DWebPro on web browser shutdown. DWebPro should be automatically closed if the web browser is closed (by clicking on the red x in the upper right corner of the window). This method is disabled if you are using using Avant Browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer under Windows Vista, and Firefox 1.5 or above. This limitation is imposed by the internal behavior of these browsers. In this case, you have to close DWebPro manually.
System Requirements
Software Requirements
*While this DVD tutorial should work across multiple browsers, you may lose some functionality, mainly related to the visual appearance.