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Calli99

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Hi everyone,

 

I’ve just returned from a trip to Rocken End, Isle of Wight with some Cretaceous chalk ammonites in hand. This chalk is incredibly delicate to the point where handling is almost scary. I have the smaller things soaking in water to desalinate but I’m worried about these two items.

 

The whole ammonite is the nicest and biggest we found (with a little ammo that already looks cracked…) and so delicate I’m worried that soaking it will destroy it?

 

The larger block contains at least one nice ammonite and potentially more, I don’t know whether to prep it and then soak or vice versa?

 

Also, we leave the IOW on Sunday and so I don’t have much time for soaking them. Would you recommend packing the fossils in damp paper towel and then re-submerging when I get back to London?

 

I need any and all advice!

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Edited by Calli99
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They look like greensand Ammonites to me! If they were in contact with the sea it might be worth soaking it to get rid of salt. Test it on a small scrap first to check :) 

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Yes they are greensand - and insanely delicate! I’ve just had another look at them and tested the waters a bit (pun intended) and I think the large complete ammo will certainly fall apart if submerged. The one in the block seems a little more stable, but the matrix dissolved away when I tested it. So I think I’ll just have to let them dry nice and slowly, stabilise with paraloid and prep what I can. I don’t think there’s much I can do for them in the way of desalination.

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I’ve heard of taking mud and coating the fossil with it. I mean, if mud can help protect fossils in nature, then surely it can protect your specimen? Would this work for greensand?

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I think I know what you mean in terms of transport protection - forming a mud ball around the fossil. However I don’t think it’s really applicable for what I need. It probably would have worked for protecting the specimen when getting it out of the field, but now I want to make it stable enough to keep and preserve long term

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