[NHCOLL-L:1578] Re: fragmenting fossils

[Joy Irving]

Dear Larkin,

It does sound to me like pyrite decay, which is due to oxidation of iron 
sulphides within the fossils.  The good news is that there are a couple of 
treatments you can use to halt this decay which are explained in the 
following two papers:

Waller,R. 1987: An experimental ammonia gas treatment method for oxidized 
pyrite mineral specimens.  Preprints (Working Group 13), 623-630.  ICOM 
Committee for Conservation. 8th Triennial Meeting Sydney, Australia, 6-11 
September, 1987.  Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles.  R. Waller's 
e-mail address is RWALLER at MUS-NATURE.CA

The other treatment is in a paper by: Cornish,L. & Doyle,A. 1984: Use of 
ethanolamine thioglycollate in conservation of pyritized fossils. 
Palaeontology 27, 179-181.  Adrian Doyle's e-mail address is amd at nhm.ac.uk

Please see also my reply to a previous question about this problem on 
NHCOLL-L: 1485. Re: Whale bone fossils fungus, dated Feb.20th.: i.e. correct 
storage afterwards is just as important as treatment.  If you follow this 
advice your fossils won't crumble into dust!!  At least, not for a few 
decades!  Good luck.

                              Joy Irving.
                              Technician.
              Oxford University Museum of Natural History.





>From: "Larkin G. Chases" <lgc1 at humboldt.edu>
>Reply-To: lgc1 at humboldt.edu
>To: Natural History List <nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu>
>Subject: [NHCOLL-L:1573] fragmenting fossils
>Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 13:35:55 -0700
>
>Hello,
>
>I was wondering if anyone could give me some advise regarding the
>crystallization and fragmentation of fossils. A few of our fossils are
>growing white crystals which results in the specimen crumbling. There is
>also an acidic smell to the specimens. Is there a way to stop this 
>reaction?
>
>Also, I noticed that rusty-brown dust is appearing on some of the 
>specimens.
>Possibly iron? Is there a way to stop this?
>
>Thank you, Larkin
>
>****************
>Larkin G. Chases
>Museum Assistant
>HSU Natural History Museum
>1315 G Street, Arcata CA 95521
>Phone: (707)826-4479
>




_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 
http://www.hotmail.com