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Help with some Mazon Creek fossils


fossilguy312

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Hello,

 

I’ve noticed something odd with some of my mazon creek fossils that I haven’t looked at in a long time. Some of them seem to have small spots developing on them that I could swear weren’t there, say, 10 years ago. Anyone have any idea what these little circles are? There are 4 on the left Tully monster right above the white paint. And 1 on the right Tully just off the lower left edge of the body. And the white paint is a whole different issue... Open to any suggestions on how to remove that too... was thinking about rubbing alcohol. 
 

And then here is a shark egg case that seems to have a LOT of the little spots/circles. 
 

Thanks for any insight.

 

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Maybe our friend @Nimravis will know he has opened hundreds of the nodules. I thought it just how they are preserved. I have some specimens that look similar 

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8 hours ago, Phevo said:

How are they kept? 

 

Sitting in a glass display case. 
 

1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

Maybe our friend @Nimravis will know he has opened hundreds of the nodules. I thought it just how they are preserved. I have some specimens that look similar 


interesting. Perhaps you are right and they’ve always been this way. I wish I had photos of them from years ago to compare. But I just don’t recall these spots being there in the past. Maybe I’m wrong though. 

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My question is where did you get these or are the self found?

 

The reason I ask is because if you bought or traded for them from an older collector, the could have brushed them with egg whites years ago and that could be the result, at least that is my thinking. I have a number of flora pieces that have the same issue and I believe that they are pieces that I did that process on. Now I am not saying I am older- lol, but I learned that from my Fossil mentor decades ago, he would be about 100 years old now if still living. An easy fix is to put them under water and lightly brush them with a toothbrush, that should fix the issue. Even if it is not from egg whites, the cleaning seems to do the trick.

 

I am going to tag Rob @RCFossils for his opinion, he might have a different answer to the problem.

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Great question, @Nimravis    
these were found by an older collector in the 70s who later gave them to me as a gift as I was assembling my mazon creek collection. I have several more pieces from him, some of which are showing these spots and some of which are not. I’m not aware of him ever doing an egg wash treatment although I suppose it’s possible that he did it to some many decades ago. But he never mentioned that to me. 
 

Out of curiosity, what is the point of an egg wash? I’ve never heard of that. 
 

 

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I suppose the egg wash is like an varnish. Some artists paint is mixed with egg like that of egg tempera. 

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1 hour ago, fossilguy312 said:

Great question, @Nimravis    
these were found by an older collector in the 70s who later gave them to me as a gift as I was assembling my mazon creek collection. I have several more pieces from him, some of which are showing these spots and some of which are not. I’m not aware of him ever doing an egg wash treatment although I suppose it’s possible that he did it to some many decades ago. But he never mentioned that to me. 
 

Out of curiosity, what is the point of an egg wash? I’ve never heard of that. 
 

 

Egg wash (and other substances) were once thought by some collectors to protect and/or highlight the specimen.

Unfortunately some of the substances are impossible to remove.

It is almost always a better idea to leave them alone.

In some rare cases, I have seen concretions damaged by pyrite disease. I do not think that is what is occurring with your specimens but it is a possibility.

i have a beautiful large spider that has been damaged from pyrite disease.

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3 hours ago, fossilguy312 said:

Out of curiosity, what is the point of an egg wash? I’ve never heard of that. 

As Rob mentioned Above, they saw it as a way to protect the fossil- give it a cleaning with water and see what happens, it has always worked for me.

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If you got these from another collector it is probably caused by splashes of some kind of substance and dust collected on the surface. They don't show initially but with time, as the substances interact with the iron siderite of the concretion they may become visible. The last one looks like someone sneezed on it, maybe a pet depending on how it was displayed or stored. I agree with Ralph that a toothbrush and some running water will probably solve the issue.

 

P.S. -- rinse it but don't dry it with cloth or paper towels. Just shake off the excess water and let it air dry.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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I went digging through some drawers to find a couple that have the same issue and I could tell were coated in egg whites, these were collected back in 1987.

 

After taking the pics I used a toothbrush and some water, the results are clear.

 

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Very cool, @Nimravis

 

i just gave it a try. I’ll see how they look once they dry, but so far, looks like the water and toothbrush is working very well!!! Here’s a before and after on one of the pieces. Really happy this was such an easy way to fix. 
 

thanks to everyone for the help!

 

 

C70DF5F1-F1DB-4100-B3AA-1DFB4C9D62C4.jpeg

C691DACF-B946-416F-B53C-BADADE659200.jpeg

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Wow, what a difference!.

 

Some of my MC nodules look a bit dull. I am going to experiment on one, and see if this water/toothbrush treatment improves them. 

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MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector

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