USF Petrology Collections

This digital collection provides access to high-resolution images of geologic samples to be used by K-12 and college teachers and students as well as the general public at no cost. Sample categories include, but are not limited to, volcanic, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks and minerals.

Data available include, but are not limited to, photographs of thin sections in plane-polarized and cross-polarized light, and pictures of outcrops and hand specimen in 2D and 3D when available. Images of thin sections have been acquired with a Keyence VHX-7000 digital microscope that was acquired in 2021 by Dr. Aurelie Germa and Dr. Sylvain Charbonnier (USF School of Geosciences) through NSF proposal # 2040066.

Each sample is registered with an International Geo Sample Number (IGSN) via SESAR (System for Earth Sample Registration). Full petrographic description of samples will be available for all samples. Teaching material can be developed and provided for some (if not all) collections.

The collection is regularly updated as new data is being acquired and/or published, so please, visit us often!

All images in this collection are bound to a CC BY-NC-SA license. This license allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.