[NHCOLL-L:4478] Re: Mould on fossils

[Poly, William]

The source of the nutrients for the mould could be the wooden frames in which the fossils are mounted.

Bill

William J. Poly
Research Associate
Department of Ichthyology
California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
55 Music Concourse Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118
web:  http://research.calacademy.org/research/Ichthyology/poly/poly.php

________________________________
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of John E Simmons [simmons.johne at gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 10:14 AM
To: hfourie at nfi.museum
Cc: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4476] Re: Mould on fossils

Are you positive that this is mold?  Mold needs a nutrient base to grow, as well as high humidity (>65% for most species).  There are very little nutrients on fossils, unless the mold is eating some organic-based coating.   You might be seeing a salt efflorescence or crystallization of minerals in the rock matrix (e.g., pyrite disease) rather than mold--try scraping some off and looking at it under a microscope.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com<mailto:simmons.johne at gmail.com>
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com<http://www.museologica.com>
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
19 Deike Building
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-2709
jes67 at psu.edu<mailto:jes67 at psu.edu>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dr Heidi Fourie <hfourie at nfi.museum<mailto:hfourie at nfi.museum>>
Date: Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 7:36 AM
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4474] Mould on fossils
To: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu>


I've discovered mould growing on fossils we stored in our basement.  These are invertebrate fossils in blocks mounted in wooden frames.  Both the frame and fossil are covered in mould.  The mould is  whitish grey wooly and round in pattern.  It even grows on the Glyptal.
My question is, what is the safest chemical to clean this with or is water and soap safest.  The storage room that it is going to has a very low humidity so I don't think the mould will reappear and how safe is the fossil plants in the same basement storeroom?

Heidi
Dr H. Fourie
Curator: Vertebrate Palaeontology
Transvaal Museum
Tel: 012 3227632



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