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Here are two links to posts dealing with how to post pictures on Black River Fossils forums.
1. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by ditchweezil
2. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by Daryl
If you're worried about salt I suggest you soak your fossil in distilled water instead of a water/Elmer's mix. Soak the fossil for 24 hours and then change the water and soak it for another 24 hours. Let it dry completely before coating it with anything unless it is so unstable that it will fall apart without treatment. moisture trapped in a fossil can cause serious damage. A lot of people use the 50/50 mixture but I prefer to use a mixture of B-76 (butvar) and acetone when I have to stabilize anything. If you use butvar make sure the item being treated is completely dry because butvar does not like water at all and you will end up with a milky coating on your fossil that is very hard to get rid of. There are several stabilizing products available with one of the better known being Paleobond. Other than butvar I prefer to mix my own stabilisers from various commercial glues. Hobby shops are a great place to get cyanoacrylates in larger quantities for a reasonable price. WARNING: these products are extremely flammable and can be toxic. You must use care when utilising them and they must be used only in well ventilated areas. Do not get any of these adhesives on your skin. Contact with bare flesh will immediately penetrate and kill your skin cells so use gloves and a long sleeve shirt. Do not store these mixtures in household plastic-ware because the plastic will melt. Use a resealable glass container or specially formulated chem grade plastic and mark the contents well. I have seen fossil shells preserved with all kinds of products like shellac, varnish, and urethane. I have never been worried about salt deposits in my fossils. I have never had or seen any salt related problems, but I am concerned with pyrite disease. This happens when unstable pyrite reacts with humidity in the air and converts to sulfuric acid. Once this reaction occurs it can destroy a fossil in a fairly short period of time. The fossils found in the Eocene Muddy Creek locality in Virginia are especially succeptable to this condition. I had a number of nice teeth turn into a black goo before I figured out what was going on. I also had a nice pyritized whale tooth from GMR that started to melt, but an hour in the oven at 200 degrees to get the moisture out and a liberal coating of fossil sealant took care of the problem. If you have Cenozoic fossils that have that "cool" pyrite on them make sure you keep them in a place with low humidity, or dry and seal them. I hope this helps answer your question.
Wow, I finally found someone who knows about the pyritizing of the Muddy Creek fossils! I collected there for a few years and have tons of awesome specimens from there. However, we immediately noticed something. The fossils start getting this "whitish" stuff on them after a while and if left too long, it overtakes the whole fossil (ie. tooth) and makes it really nasty, and it seems that nothing you do can clean the stuff off or reverse the process.
I have all of my Muddy Creek material in a dry place, but I still see some pyritizing taking place. I can't imagine that after two years any of the teeth still have moisture in them, but what do you recommend? I would really hate to see this stuff waste away. As an experiment, I took a bunch of tiny teeth (catsharks etc.) and soaked them in cooking oil. It darkened them a bit more then I would like, but at least they don't seem to be pyritizing - yet?
Any recommendations you have to preserve/save my Muddy Creek fossils would be most appreciated!
thanks,
Daryl.
Since we have so many experts on the topic I would like to know something about Paleobond. I have been using this for most of my Cow teeth and anything "special". I soak my teeth overnight in fresh water, let them dry in a cool, dark place, and apply the Paleobond to the root areas only. I like the extra protection it seems to give the teeth and I am not concerned about the sheen that its gives to them. My question to the veterans is can this HURT my finds in any way. I have only been at this since January, and I would like to find out now if I am doing something wrong in the preservation of my collection? Thanks for any help. Chris
I think this is the way it happens: the fossil teeth and bones are composed of calcium phosphate and the pyrite component is iron sulfide, primarily derived from carbonatious detritus (like carbonized wood). When atmospheric moisture (H2O) comes into contact with the iron sulfide (FeS) the sulfur jumps from the iron to the water and forms sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The sulfuric acid attacks, and joins with, the calcium in the calcium phosphate (CaPO4) of the teeth which forms the white crystalline calcium sulphate (CaSO4), more commonly known as gypsum, and leaves a phosphate sludge or powder behind. One of the simple tests to see if your fossil is decomposing is to sniff it. Does it smell a little like sulfur? I have tried soaking my "at risk" fossils in alcohol with some degree of success but as far as a fix goes the best thing you can do is get all the moisture out of the fossil. I spread the teeth on a cookie sheet, put them in the oven, and turn the oven to between 100 and 200 degrees. Don't preheat the oven or you might have problems with thermal shock when you put the teeth in. Leave the oven door slightly open and "bake" for one hour. Turn the oven off and let the teeth cool down in the oven before removing them, again because of thermal shock. At this point the best thing to do is store the teeth in a moisture proof container. For the rare teeth you might consider using preservative after drying. You say you have your teeth in a dry place but the humidity in your area is often 100% through most of the warm months. Humidity can go anywhere air can, so an airtight seal is a must. One of the things I do is store the teeth in mini zip loc type bags to keep out the moisture. I hope this helped.
Chris, just make sure the fossils are totally dry before you treat them so you don't trap any moisture inside. As far as I know, Paleobond is a chemically neutral product that will not react in any negative way with your fossils. I have never heard of anyone having problems with their products with the exception of a friend of mine glueing his hand to a shark tooth. His fault, not their's.
Thanks for info. I think my idea of dry and your idea of dry are definitely different. I had better start drying my teeth a little longer!! Paleobond is very sticky, and I too have almost sealed my fingers together!
I sometimes "water down" cyanoacrylate (super glue) with acetone for maximum penetration. Super glue works well on most fossils, the trick is to get it inside the fossil structure before the glue dries. Once it dries it actually forms a barrier that stops more glue from penetrating the fossil. I don't normally use it as a primary stabilizer but I use it to hold pieces together while my stabilizer is curing. It sounds like you did the right thing to save the teeth.
Thanks BRM. I'll look into some containers that might provide a better storage solution than the small riker mounts I have them in right now. Most of the small specimens are in those small jewel cup containers inside the riker mounts. They seem "sealed" fairly well, but obviously not air tight.
Thanks for all the info - I had a flashback to highschool/college chemistry and thought I was going to have to start remembering how to balance equations, remember what a mole is, and what is avogadro's number !