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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>I presume you have read the article on amber conservation
produced for EPISCON?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://amsdottorato.cib.unibo.it/2259/">http://amsdottorato.cib.unibo.it/2259/</A></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Neil</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=063022810-02082012><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Dr Neil D. L. Clark</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2
face=Arial>Curator of Palaeontology</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT color=#000080 size=2
face=Arial>The Hunterian<BR>University of Glasgow<BR>Gilbert Scott
Building<BR>Glasgow G12 8QQ<BR><BR>E-mail: Neil.Clark@glasgow.ac.uk<BR>Tel:
+44(0)141 330 3599<BR>Website:</FONT> <FONT size=2
face=Arial>www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian<BR><BR><B></B></FONT><B><FONT
color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>Hunterian Art Gallery
refurbishment</FONT></B><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR><FONT
color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>The Hunterian Art Gallery is currently
undergoing major refurbishment. Both the Art Gallery and The Mackintosh House
are now closed to the public, re-opening on 15 September with a special new
exhibition 'Rembrandt and the Passion'. The Hunterian Museum remains open as
usual.</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>New permanent
gallery:</FONT></B><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR><FONT color=#000080
size=2 face=Arial>The Antonine Wall: Rome's Final Frontier</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>Opening hours:</FONT></B><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR><FONT color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>Tuesday
- Saturday 10.00am - 5.00pm; Sunday 11.00am - 4.00pm</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>The Entire Collection cared for by The
Hunterian is a Recognised Collection of National Significance to
Scotland</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#000080 size=2 face=Arial>University of Glasgow, charity number
SC004401</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR><FONT color=#000080
size=2 face=Arial>A world Top 100 University, joint first in Scotland for
student satisfaction and 5th in the UK</FONT><B></B> </P><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B>
nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Rhian Russell<BR><B>Sent:</B> 01 August 2012
21:40<BR><B>To:</B> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Nhcoll-l]
Dealing with amber in mineral oil<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal>Hey all,</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I asked a while ago for advice on how to deal with amber that
has been stored in mineral oil. I received many helpful responses which
basically boiled down to:</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in" class=MsoListParagraph><SPAN>-<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Attempt to remove the mineral oil using a mild soap and water</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in" class=MsoListParagraph><SPAN>-<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Possibly grind or repolish the amber</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in" class=MsoListParagraph><SPAN>-<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Embed the amber in epoxy ( Paul Nascimbene recommended “<SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">a
high-grade glass conservation epoxy called EpoTek 301-2”. Other people mentioned
reactions between the oil and epoxy so definitely be cautious with materials and
techniques)</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in" class=MsoListParagraph><SPAN>-<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Cut down to study if desired.</P>
<P class=MsoListParagraph> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>We haven’t gotten around to trying this yet but I figured I’d
post the responses in case anyone else finds them useful. I have permission to
repost from both Paul Nascimbene and Ryan McKellar.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hi
Rhian,<BR><BR>I hope I can be of some help. We have occasionally
encountered this problem here at AMNH, particularly with a few historical
specimens, and with Lower Eocene Indian amber specimens that were recently sent
to us in this condition. Are the specimens in question amber pieces
containing fossil arthropods?<BR><BR>I'm not sure that mineral oil can be
completely removed from within the amber (depending on how deeply it has
penetrated the material), but, in the case of amber with insect inclusions, the
affected surface of the amber can be ground and repolished (removing the oil),
as long as the insect lies adequately beneath the penetrated surface. I
might recommend first washing the amber gently with a mild soap and water (no
solvents), especially if you have larger display specimens that are
affected. If the amber cannot be ground or repolished due to policy for
the collection, then washing and thoroughly rinsing the piece may help prevent
further damage, but the amber is still likely to deteriorate over time (see
cons. doc attached).<BR><BR>Here at AMNH, we treat amber containing arthropods
by embedding the amber under vacuum in a high-grade glass conservation epoxy
called EpoTek 301-2 . I am attaching three documents FYI. <BR><BR>I am happy to
answer further questions. <BR><BR>Best Regards, Paul<BR><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hi
Rhian,<BR><BR>I read the rest of the thread on 'cleaning amber' in the nhcoll
listserv today. Since the incident in the 90's with the original Type
Sphecomyrma specimen, much has been learned about embedding amber specimens in
epoxy, and we now use a higher grade epoxy that takes longer to cure, but has
never produced an exothermic reaction in my experience (EpoTek 301-2). I
have used this glass conservation epoxy successfully on amber specimens that
were coated with mineral oil (although I removed as much of the oil as possible
beforehand by grinding and polishing the contaminated surfaces). I suggest
first trying this process on an expendable piece of amber that has either been
immersed or coated with mineral oil. <BR><BR>Mineral oil will eventually
fully degrade amber and likely ultimately compromise or ruin any inclusions the
amber contains. On the other hand, embedding amber in a high grade epoxy
like EpoTek prevents oxidation and also significantly improves viewing of
inclusions. <BR><BR><BR>Regards, Paul</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hi
Rhian,</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR>Stacey Gibb
forwarded part of the amber discussion that you have been having with Janet
Waddington, concerning mineral oil storage. She figured I might be able to help
out. When I went through the RTMP Grassy Lake collection, I didn't encounter any
vials where the specimens were entirely submerged in fluid. There were a large
number of samples in the type room in glass vials that had a thin film of what
appeared to be glycerine clinging to them. (This and sugar-water are the most
common modern solutions used for viewing inclusions, and will dry onto the
specimens if they are not rinsed properly). To the best of my knowledge,
glycerine does not react with plastic, but liquids like mineral oil and cedar
wood oil haven't been used for quite some time (unless the specimens were loaned
to some oddball researcher, or predate the bulk of the collection, the timing
seems strange for mineral oil). The quick-and-dirty way of figuring out if you
are dealing with glycerine vs. mineral oil is to take some of the fluid and mix
it with water (glycerine should be soluble, given enough time, while mineral oil
should be immiscible). If you do have mineral oil issues, there is very little
that can be done without some risk to the amber. Probably the best long-term
solution that comes to mind would be rinsing the amber pieces in a weak solvent
to remove as much of the mineral oil as possible, drying them extremely well,
and embedding them in a stable epoxy like Buehler's Epothin. The problem that
Grimaldi and Nascimbene (1997) ran into was their epoxy reaching the temperature
required to release the volatiles within the mineral oil that was stuck to their
specimen. If small enough moulds are used for embedding (less than one inch, and
with just enough epoxy to cover the amber piece) batch sizes should be small
enough that heat should not be much of an issue. These authors also
mention that New Jersey amber is much more soluble than Canadian material, so
Canadian amber is less likely to retain mineral oil within the amber itself.
Ultimately, it will require at least one test specimen to see if any of this
will work. If you would like help with the embedding, just let me know -- we do
this sort of thing with Canadian amber at the U of A pretty regularly.<BR>All
the best,<BR>-Ryan <BR><BR></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hi Rhian,<BR>in
the long run, I would strongly advocate embedding the pieces -- this and storing
the specimens out of direct light is the only way to slow their eventual
weathering. Many of the ROM specimens are difficult to study because the amber
has significantly darkened and has developed large fractures that obscure the
specimens. This is pretty scary, given that the collection only dates back to
the late 30's. The same problem exists but is reduced in the Canadian National
Collection of Insects and Arthropods amber collection, because most specimens
were embedded early and only extend back to the early 60's. This said, most of
the CNC material has been polished to expose the amber on at least two sides, so
it will eventually share the same fate. I have attached the latest paper on
these sorts of concerns.<BR><BR>The detergent idea is probably the gentler
alternative to using a solvent, and would be better. We have had luck cleaning
glycerine off of pieces using a very mild solution of "Sparkleen" (the
residue-free laboratory glassware detergent) and then rinsing the material in
distilled or deionized water. If the glycerine or mineral oil has largely
evaporated, it might take quite a long soaking to loosen whatever is adhering to
the specimens. If it is mineral oil, I am not sure that a detergent will be
enough to get it off, but it is definitely worth a try.<BR><BR>Hope some of this
helps.<BR>-Ryan <BR><BR></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The papers that were recommended are as follows:</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Grimaldi, David
and Paul Nascimbene.. “Appendix: Vacuum embedding and disintegration of the type
of <I>Sphecomyrma freyi</I>.” In “New and rediscovered primitive ants
(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their
phylogenetic relationships,” by David Grimaldi, Donat Agosti, And James M.
Carpenter, 41-43. <I>American Museum Novitates</I> 3208 (1997):1-43</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Nascimbene and
Silverstein. “The preparation of fragile Cretaceous ambers for conservation and
study of organismal inclusions” in “Studies on fossils in amber, with particular
reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey”. Ed. David Grimaldi, pp.93-102.
2000.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bisulca, Christine, Paul
Nascimbene, Lisa Elkin and David Grimaldi. “ Variation in the Deterioration of
Fossil Resins and Implications for the Conservation of Fossils in Amber”.
<I>American Museum Novitates </I>3734 (2012): 1-19.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" lang=EN-CA>Rhian
Russell</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
lang=EN-CA></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"
lang=EN-CA>Conservation Technician</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
lang=EN-CA></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" lang=EN-CA>Royal
Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology,</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
lang=EN-CA></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" lang=EN-CA>Box 7500,
Drumheller, Alberta T0J 0Y0</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
lang=EN-CA></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" lang=EN-CA>Phone:
(403) 823 7707 Ext. 3306</SPAN><SPAN
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