Clayton Jones Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 While looking on Pleecan's Ediacaran Facebook group, I saw a post about a fossil-surface in Newfoundland, Canada that is now lost to coastal erosion. I've heard of other sites like this that will be and have been lost to erosion or construction because they can't be removed for one reason or another.I think it should be possible to 'rescue' these fossils surfaces by recording as much data from them as possible including making molds of them and then casting a replica of the surface for display and study.Does anyone know of any existing projects like this? My attempt at creating a museum and community center to help people find an interest in the world around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Yes, you are talking about Mistaken Point. I think it is visited in one of David Attenborough's shows but I know it is discussed in the book "Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms" (Knopf, 2011) by Richard Fortey. He noted that the fossils cannot be removed safely because the matrix is very brittle and riddled with fractures. I don't know what they have tried but it surprises me that they cannot find/tailor a preservative to solidify the matrix but the humidity of the area may be a factor. Scientists have been using a latex solution to make casts. If you haven't read "Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms," check it out - good book on "living fossils." I think it is available in hardback and paperback now. While looking on Pleecan's Ediacaran Facebook group, I saw a post about a fossil-surface in Newfoundland, Canada that is now lost to coastal erosion. I've heard of other sites like this that will be and have been lost to erosion or construction because they can't be removed for one reason or another.I think it should be possible to 'rescue' these fossils surfaces by recording as much data from them as possible including making molds of them and then casting a replica of the surface for display and study.Does anyone know of any existing projects like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 A large area of the Mistaken Point fossil plane was molded with Silicone material. Mold was peeled, a cast was made. The reproduction was used for a museum display in lieu of the real fossil surface. Ironically a new species was found on the replica that wasn't noticed on the real fossil surface. I'd like to give credit for the pictures used here, but when I archived, I didn't record source info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Also, I have thought about sites where the surface may be too brittle for a physical cast, but with a portable 3D scanner, even the most brittle of sites can be recorded digitally. That would probably be expensive, but worth it.That's a pretty big mold, I would have thought it would be easier to section the mold off into more sizeable peices. I'll have to look into large mold making... My attempt at creating a museum and community center to help people find an interest in the world around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi, Fossilcrazy, It has to be a great adventure to make a so big mold. Very interesting technique ! Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 For the record, the documentary that featured Mistaken Point was "David Attenborough's First Life". This situation reminds me of the dilema initially facing the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways, they were eroding and getting damaged from exposure. So what was the solution? They built a sheltered complex on top of the footprints Although such a solution would be impractical here, right on the coast... "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolPete Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 There is a location I know of in the middle of Fort Gibson Lake in Oklahoma where at the very tip of a peninsula, there is a wonderful exposure of a mississippian storm deposit just covered in really detailed impressions of all sorts of plants are exposed on huge plates. Unfortunately it is in a State Park that is doing nothing to even acknowledge its existence, so it is just sitting there, eroding away as the lake level constantly changes. It'd be great if someone was able to do a project like this to try and preserve some of it. I'll try and post pictures of it when I get a chance. Edit: here are some of the photos, as you can see, they have already weathered quite a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 That would be an excellent place to try to preserve!I wonder if I would need any permissions in order to be able to make a mold of the surface... My attempt at creating a museum and community center to help people find an interest in the world around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvestersen Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi Last year, the museum that i work at borrowed the travel exhibition "Fossil Art" made by Dolf Seilacher. On display was some 40 casts of fossilized traces spanning more than a billion years from all over the world. All the casts was made from silicone rubber http://www.wacker.com/cms/en/www_archive/www_2008/www_28/28_applications/28_fossil-art/28_fossil-art.jsp Here are some photos of some of the beautiful casts http://www.fossil-art.dk/KUNST.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxytropidoceras Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Techniques that are being used to record rock art might be adapted to 'rescue' fossils surfaces by creating digital models of them. Digital recording of such surfaces does not risk damaging them as casting them can; can be easily stored and shared; readily displayed; readily replicated; and can be analyzed and studied using computers. Some examples: 1. Laser Imaging of El Morro Inscriptions, El Morro National Monument, New Mexico by Douglas W. Gann and William H. Doelle (2006) http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/laser_imaging_of_el_morro_inscriptions.pdf http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/what-we-do/initiatives/elmo_lidar/final/ 2. Historic Preservation and Resource Documentation at the Abó Painted Rocks Site. National Park Service http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npsites/salinasAboRocks.htm "A Minolta high-speed terrestrial laser scanner captured the Painted Rock area significantly faster than manual techniques and created extremely accurate models. The high definition (HD) photographs taken during the project field work served a dual purpose. These photographs were fused with the 3D surface models as well as serving as a photo-documentation PDF. Proprietary software innovations combined the LiDAR data points and HD photographs to create ultra-high resolution true color 3D terrestrial models. The final products were very detailed surface models of the rock wall with HD photographs overlaid on them." In additional, there are: 3-D Laser Scanner Images Dinosaur Footprints http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=45150 Digital 3D modelling of dinosaur footprints by photogrammetry and laser scanning techniques: integrated approach at the Coste dell’Anglone tracksite (Lower Jurassic, Southern Alps, Northern Italy) http://www.academia.edu/369285/Digital_3D_Modelling_of_Dinosaur_Footprints_by_Photogrammetry_and_Laser_Scanning_Techniques_Integrated_Approach_at_the_Coste_DellAnglone_Tracksite_Lower_ PDF file at http://www.mtsn.tn.it/pubblicazioni/6/actaG83/23Petti-et-al.pdf Some publications: Barnett, T., A. Chalmers, M. Díaz-Andreu, G. Ellis, P. Longhurst, K. Sharpe, and I. Trinks, 2005. 3D Laser Scanning For Recording and Monitoring Rock Art Erosion. International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA). vol. 41, pp. 25-29. Díaz-Andreu, M., R. Hobbs, N. Rosser, K. Sharpe, and I. Trinks, 2005. Long Meg: Rock Art Recording Using 3D Laser Scanning. Past. vol. 50, p. 2. Gonzalez-Aguilera, D. P. Rodriguez-Gonzalvez, J. Mancera-Taboada, A. Muñoz-Nieto, J. Herrero-Pascual, J. Gomez-Lahoz and I. Picon-Cabrera, 2011, Application of Non-Destructive Techniques to the Recording and Modelling of Palaeolithic Rock Art. in C.-C. Wang, ed., pp. 326- 305, Laser Scanning, Theory and Applications. InTech Europe, Croatia. PDF file - http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/15812/InTech-Application_of_non_destructive_techniques_to_the_recording_and_modelling_of_palaeolithic_rock_art.pdf Trinks, I., M. Díaz-Andreu, R. Hobbs, and K. Sharpe, 2005, Digital rock art recording: visualising petroglyphs using 3D laser scanner data. Rock Art Research. vol. 22, pp. 131-9. Yours, Paul H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 I think I'll get together some liquid latex or silicone and try a few test runs with a few of my fossil plates. Then I will See what it will take to be able to make a mold of the point at Fort Gibson Lake. My attempt at creating a museum and community center to help people find an interest in the world around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolPete Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 I think I'll get together some liquid latex or silicone and try a few test runs with a few of my fossil plates. Then I will See what it will take to be able to make a mold of the point at Fort Gibson Lake. I wish you luck, it's on the south tip of Sequoya State Park. You might need to wait a while though, since it's probably underwater right now. Last I checked, the lake level was way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 I bet the lake level is high, after the rain we've been having. I think we received all the rain we missed out on last year in one day!Waiting for the lake level to go down will give me time to practice mold making. My attempt at creating a museum and community center to help people find an interest in the world around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Hi Last year, the museum that i work at borrowed the travel exhibition "Fossil Art" made by Dolf Seilacher. On display was some 40 casts of fossilized traces spanning more than a billion years from all over the world. All the casts was made from silicone rubber http://www.wacker.com/cms/en/www_archive/www_2008/www_28/28_applications/28_fossil-art/28_fossil-art.jsp Here are some photos of some of the beautiful casts http://www.fossil-art.dk/KUNST.html Hi, Wacker is the company I am working for - but I didn't know they were involved in this "Fossil Art" exhibition. Thomas Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvestersen Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Hi, Wacker is the company I am working for - but I didn't know they were involved in this "Fossil Art" exhibition. Thomas What to say — it's a small world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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