Abstract
The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) based Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) has emerged as one of the most unique and effective techniques for robust micro-scale texture analysis of crystalline materials. Primarily, material scientists advocated this technique on metals, alloys and ceramics to extract crystallographic information and deformation mechanisms. Over the past three–four decades, geoscientists, particularly those interested in quantitative rock microstructures and texture analysis, have been extensively utilising the method. EBSD also gained considerable attention due to its potency in revealing the seismic anisotropies of the crust and mantle. Deformation induced alignment of the mineral grains in rocks imparts the anisotropic nature. Seismic velocities are dependent on the physical properties of the media, whereas EBSD can aid in quantifying the degree of anisotropy. Other applications of the EBSD-derived data in geosciences include estimating the ductile shear senses, deformation temperature, kinematic vorticity number, and the nature of deformation (monoclinic, triclinic, transpressive, etc.) using the recently devised crystallographic vorticity axis analysis.