The rare fossil marine diatoms from Oamaru (NZ) are among the most beautiful and interesting in the world: they date back to Late Eocene - Early Oligocene with more than 600 taxa! No doubt “the term Oamaru represents a magic charm to Diatomologists” (T.V. Desikachary & P.M. Sreelatha, 1989)
New Zealand recently banned the export of the samples as they are declared cultural heritage, but Diatom Lab legally obtained its many samples several years ago, with all certifications, so don't miss the opportunity to get some microscope slides of [strewn or micromanipulated] Oamaru diatoms!
Diatom Lab keeps a lot of samples coming from eight Oamaru locations (Allan's Farm , Forrester's Hill, Cormacks Siding, Jackson's Paddock, Bain's Farm, Totara, Flume Gully, Mavor's Farm). Finding so many different Oamaru locations at the same source is a rare event in the history of microscopy: don't miss the opportunity to admire all eight localities!
In the gallery above you can see a small example of the species found (SEM images + light microscope images: dry microscope objectives in differential interference contrast or DIC). Several publications have been written on Oamaru diatoms, but the most complete atlas is Desikachar, T.V. & Sreelatha, P.M. 1989. Oamaru diatoms. Bibliotheca Diatomologica 19: 1–330.
(The header and footer of this website are derived from scanning electron microscope (SEM) images made by Alex Hyde, who photographed some slides produced by Diatom Lab. We can also produce SEM images, however, we believe that microscope images taken by others clearly demonstrate the quality of our products).