Microstructure of Athabasca bituminous sand by freeze-fracture preparation and transmission electron microscopy

The technique of freeze-fraclure has been used to prepare samples of bituminous sand and emulsions for electron microscopy. This provides substantial information about the volatile (primary aqueous) fractions of these systems. Evidence is presented that the water component in the bituminous sands occurs mainly as a water-in-oil emulsion in the interstitial spaces, not as a layer around the mineral particles.