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Fossil cleaning and damage


Acb13adm

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How easy is it to damage a fossil? I've gathered some interesting possible partial fossils from a couple sites adjacent to a river, so of course there's mud to be removed. I was (I thought) using gentle methods that I don't think would cause damage, but perhaps they're incompletely fossilized (if fossils in the first place)?

I rinsed in the adjacent river 1st, dried with microfiber cloths. Later, noticed some changes in appearance... 

Well, before cataloguing my sins, let's start off with what one should or should not do?

Thanks

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It very much depends on the fossil. Some are infuriatingly delicate where any jostling will knock off parts. Some fossils are hardy and can survive weathering and being tumbled about. Perhaps show us the fossil in question and tell us about the age and stratigraphy.

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Need to see pictures of what you are dealing with to give any good advice.

Generally speaking, I'm usually ok with rinsing in a sink or bucket, and using a soft toothbrush to clean fossils off.

 

 

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Agree with the above, pictures are needed for any useful advice. There's no worry of judgement here, anyone who has prepped fossils has ruined a few in the past. I know I have.

 

I've worked on fossils so delicate that touching them will cause them to disintegrate all the way to some that are so hardy, you almost can't damage them. It all depends on the fossil and the preservation.

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That's good to know. I was sure I was doing things carefully!  At any rate, I should have my laptop back from HP by the weekend, so I'll try to post some pics after I do

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  • 1 month later...

Are there size limits for photo upload? I'm not sure of the size, because different apps are reporting differently, but my Oneplus has a 64 MB camera... I'm going to make a test with the latest find from the back yard! No kidding.

2022-08-01_08-46-10.jpg

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Actually, this is a new specimen I just found, not related to the ones I started the discussion about.

I have located some photos of some of the original group, which I will post when I get to better signal. Unfortunately, some $(#+#& family member have done something with the box I put them in. They claim it's around here somewhere... I would like to retake them with this camera.

Thank you for the quick response, since it's taken me quite some time to get back to this thread!

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I agree that the specimen of which you have posted a photo needs no prep other than maybe a quick rinse. If the others are similar and include mud I would be comfortable with running lukewarm tapwater and a toothbrush. A quick scrub and rinse should do the job.

 

 

Mark.

 

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

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OK then, I am going to make an attempt at loading some photos of the items in question.

Several looked much alike, so the photos are labeled with a letter & then number for multiple photos. so A-###, A-###, then B-### is new item

A-001.JPG

A-003.JPG

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next one. someone please let me know if these don't display at HD resolutions... I think that MS Edge or Win10 may be resizing them to facilitate posting....  I am pretty sure that unless the .jpg specs have changed that a photo from a 64MP camera should not be only 2-4 MB!  :zzzzscratchchin:

G-002.JPG

G-003.JPG

G-004.JPG

G-005.JPG

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