Summary

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) provides petrologists with nanometer scale resolution. With this high resolution capability, hypothesized relationships between crystal growth mechanisms and microscopically observed textures can be, for the first time, directly tested. Preliminary AFM analyses of the nanotopography of authigenic quartz and dolomite demonstrates the presence of three basic types of inferred growth features: 1) round to polygonal topographic highs (referred to here as islands), 2) flat terraces with steep edges and 3) growth spirals. Growth spirals and flat terraces with steep edges are the expected nanotopography for crystals which grow by layer growth initiated at defects. The island nanotopography is the expected microtopography for growth by polynuclear birth and spread mechanism.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah