mgates100 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi All, We went out Matoaka Cottages on Jan. 2 to do some walking and hunting. Nice day, 40 F, no breeze. We were ~1.5 miles north of the beach access (Choptank Formation, St. Leonard Member) and my son spotted a nice 2.5" long Ecphora partially exposed in the matrix (missing only apical whorl). We were able to gently remove it and I've been slowly removing the matrix under running water with some small tools. Only one portion of the shell nearest the aperture (fractured by compression in matrix?) has fallen off, but that should be easily reparable. Question: Is there an inexpensive way to dissolve clay inside without damaging the shell? Should I even bother? Thanks! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendell Ricketts Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 YMMV, but personally I would not. In fact, with fragile gastropods and bivalves, I tend to consolidate the material inside the shell with Butvar to give them additional strength and resistance. Ecphoras break if you look at them funny, so I'd probably just leave it alone at this point. W. _________________________________ Wendell Ricketts Fossil News: The Journal of Avocational Paleontology http://fossilnews.org https://twitter.com/Fossil_News The "InvertebrateMe" blog http://invertebrateme.wordpress.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozer operator Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I agree I usually don't get crazy with trying to clean the inside of gastropods it unless the material is falling out after it dries especially if the whotl is busted. Helps keep the specimen strong. Congrats on the find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I agree with Wendell Ricketts and Dozer Operator. Sometimes, I help friends prep their fossils. I worked on a skull with interior matrix and the general rule is to keep matrix intact where it is helping to support areas of the fossil especially where the bone is very thin. In the same way with a fossil gastropod, the interior matrix has kept the specimen from caving in and disintegrating from the inside out. If you don't have Butvar nor Paraloid, you can try dropping in a little super glue to stabilize the matrix Hi All, We went out Matoaka Cottages on Jan. 2 to do some walking and hunting. Nice day, 40 F, no breeze. We were ~1.5 miles north of the beach access (Choptank Formation, St. Leonard Member) and my son spotted a nice 2.5" long Ecphora partially exposed in the matrix (missing only apical whorl). We were able to gently remove it and I've been slowly removing the matrix under running water with some small tools. Only one portion of the shell nearest the aperture (fractured by compression in matrix?) has fallen off, but that should be easily reparable. Question: Is there an inexpensive way to dissolve clay inside without damaging the shell? Should I even bother? Thanks! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I think I know the area you found your ecphora. Is it filled with the gray hard clay or the dark brown sandy material? If it is the gray material it is almost impossible to remove it without damaging the fossil. If it is the brown sandy material you could try something such as a syringe filled with water to direct a stream of water to remove the infill. If you were to try this you will want to stabilize the exterior first before removing the fill. Personally I have them prepped both ways and prefer the ones left in matrix. Here are a couple shots of ecphoras from north of the cabins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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