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Preserving Sandstone Leaf Fossils


DeaEK

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Hi there! I am brand new to the forum, but have been a fossil lover all my life. I am hoping to learn the best way to preserve sandstone leaf fossils. I've been finding them since I was a kid and my mother use to coat they in polyurethane, I believe. I'm just not convinced this is the best practice. I imagine the chemicals would deteriorate the stone overtime? Anyways, I would appreciate any and all advice. 

 

Thanks in advance!

Dea

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Hi Dea-

Welcome from Casper.  Can you show a photo of your sandstone leaves?  Some sandstones are very tough, and others are just fall-apart brittle.  So, it depends on the rock.  In general, you don't want to put any preservative on the leaves themselves if you don't need to.  

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Nice finds!

If the fossils are not degrading (and I don't think they are), then they shouldn't need any coatings, as jpc said. I hate to think of the others you have coated - anything really spectacular?

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Thanks jpc and WrangellianI appreciate the intel. Yes, many of the others that were coated are stunning, theses are a few of the "lesser" finds actually. Hopefully the coating won't cause too much damage, but I guess only time will tell.

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Hopefully not.

The problem with most coatings (one of the problems, at least) is, if they are shiny, they produce glare when you try to photograph the fossil. Some substances will turn yellow or perhaps opaque/dull with age. I could show some horrific things that lapidary/rockhounds did to fossils in the old days with something like epoxy/resin!

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  • 2 years later...
On 9/25/2020 at 1:24 PM, jpc said:

Hi Dea-

Welcome from Casper.  Can you show a photo of your sandstone leaves?  Some sandstones are very tough, and others are just fall-apart brittle.  So, it depends on the rock.  In general, you don't want to put any preservative on the leaves themselves if you don't need to.  

 

JPC- any recommendations for the brittle sandstone? I have some recovered from a quarry in WY and would like to put a protective coating on some of them to keep the fish fossils safe from flaking/ damage 

 

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15 hours ago, lewisjenr said:

 

JPC- any recommendations for the brittle sandstone? I have some recovered from a quarry in WY and would like to put a protective coating on some of them to keep the fish fossils safe from flaking/ damage 

 

 

 

Pictures would go a long way to helping us answer this question.  ;)

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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15 hours ago, lewisjenr said:

 

JPC- any recommendations for the brittle sandstone? I have some recovered from a quarry in WY and would like to put a protective coating on some of them to keep the fish fossils safe from flaking/ damage 

 

 

It would also be helpful to start your own thread instead of posting into a 2 year old one.

"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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