Abstract
A new method for the study of the vitrinite reflectance using laser technology was tested. We used a laser scanning microscope (LSM) equipped with a green He-Ne laser source, because parallel and narrow laser beams with a single wavelength of 543 nm are available in the confocal LSM. The measurements are almost free from uncertainties in ordinary microscopic method related to the choice of the light source and filters, and manual settings of iris apertures. In addition to these optical advantages, the LSM enables us to make use of digital image processing in quantification of the intensity data. Using the LSM method, the vitrinte reflectance (R) was accurately determined for the samples taken from the Cretaceous Shimanto belt in Kii Peninsula and Kyushu, for which R ranges from c.a. 1 % to c.a. 6 %. The general trend of the reflectance data obtained by the LSM is consistent with that obtained by a conventional method, but the former exhibit relatively lower values than the latter.
