That odd smell of death

[Seaspawn]

Good afternoon!

Everything I find currently is from the North Sea, and I do end up finding a lot of bones with the spongey part (cancellous?) exposed through breakage or wear. Some crumble at a light touch, and most of these have a distinct odor like decay, not horrendous but definitely notable, even months after they've dried up.

Does the smell indicate, like I have been assuming, that they are subfossilized, and/or possibly younger specimens? When I think back to natural history museum visits, I don't recall that smell, and not every fossil bone I have found has the smell. Some of the teeth I found do as well.

Thanks in advance for any info, it is mostly just a question of curiosity.

[LordTrilobite]

Of the many fossils I have from the North Sea I don't think any of them have much of a smell at all. Perhaps fresh finds might have the faint smell of the sea. But other than that, nothing.

The most notable smell I've had come off of fossils is from cretaceous coprolites from the phosphate beds in Morocco. They often have a kind of sweet smell when broken up.

[Seaspawn]

3 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

Perhaps fresh finds might have the faint smell of the sea.

I thought it might be that as well, but the driftwood tends to fade off with time.

3 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

cretaceous coprolites from the phosphate beds in Morocco. They often have a kind of sweet smell when broken up.

And this is fascinating, thank you!

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Although I haven't found to many fossilised bones along the North Sea, I can't remember any of them smelling.... What does smell is fresh/sub-recent bone that has lain in the sea. But I find that those too stop smelling as they dry up. You may want to give them a good soak in hot water with dishwashing liquid to remove any loosely adhering organic remains, though. Then again, it's generally advisable to give fossils, shells and bones found in coastal settings multiple desalination baths anyway.

 

What may be causing your stench, though, could be algae-growth or barnacles stuck to the bones. Even if not visible, they could be present in pores. When I found an ichthyosaur vertebra along the French coast this summer, it started stinking horribly, as barnacles and algae started rotting. However, unless stuck in unreachable pores, these barnacles and algae can be removed using toothpicks and a toothbrush dipped in a diluted acid - starting with regular household vinegar and progressing to bleach as needed (make sure to rinse well after). After having cleaned my vertebra, it don't just stop smelling, but also stood out from its enclosing matrix a lot more.

[siteseer]

On 1/17/2021 at 10:44 AM, LordTrilobite said:

Of the many fossils I have from the North Sea I don't think any of them have much of a smell at all. Perhaps fresh finds might have the faint smell of the sea. But other than that, nothing.

The most notable smell I've had come off of fossils is from cretaceous coprolites from the phosphate beds in Morocco. They often have a kind of sweet smell when broken up.

 

Yes, some things from the ocean stink.  I try not to pick those up.

 

The Sharktooth Hill Bonebed in the Bakersfield, California area has a distinct smell when you dig into it.  Sometimes, it lingers with matrix specimens for a while.

 

Jess