Bulk mechanical properties and rheological behaviour of rocks do not only depend on their mineral composition, but also on their microstructure and texture. Depending on the shape and alignments of the components, crystallographic orientation, grain size distribution and the 3D arrangement of the constituent phases, rocks may be homogeneous or heterogeneous, isotropic or anisotropic.
Image analysis techniques have become a standard tool for microstructure analysis of natural and experimental samples (sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic) at all scales. From quantified shape and crystallographic fabrics, rock properties may be inferred and related to the processes that created them.

The aim of this short course is to introduce participants to the following questions:

1) acquiring input: images from various sources (light, electron and Xray)
2) image processing and analysis: free and open source ImageJ and MTEX toolbox.
3) structure and strain: looking at volumes and surfaces
4) measuring grain size and size distributions (2D, 3D, fractal)
5) spatial distributions: from clustered to random to ordered

Handouts will be available in electronic form. Demonstrations will be made using ImageJ mainly. Note, however, familiarity with this software is not required. - This is a short course, not a workshop.