aplomado Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Is it worth buying Pyritized fossils (ammonites, etc) for display? I have read many times about them being damaged by "pyrite disease." I am not interested in buying one of these fossils if I have to keep it sealed away. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Pyrite Disease is sometimes, but not always, a fatal one for an openly displayed pyritized fossil. I have some that were fine, but had turned to powder when next I opened the box. On the other hand, I have a large pyritized brachiopod (bought from Malick's Fossils 50+ years ago) that is fine. My impression is that the most unstable ones are the Jurassic ones from the UK, but that is hear-say info. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I lost nearly all my UK Lias ammonites and much of my Sheppey stuff to pyrites disease. But as Auspex says it seems to be pretty random. A couple of my oldest ones are still with me. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Is there a coating you can put on them to prevent it? A thick coating of paraloid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 There have been extensive discussions about Pyrite Disease here on the Forum. Here is a particularly ambitious experiment in preventing the onset of Pyrite Disease. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM - APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Are you in an area that experiences a lot of humidity or moisture in general, ie. the beach? If so you may be a tad bit more susceptible to it. I live in California. We refer to our environment as a "dry heat", lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Belt and braces. Just coat it. A weak coat of Paraloid or similar is really cheap and will not show on the fossil. Too much will make it glossy. John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On February 28, 2018 at 3:32 PM, Auspex said: Pyrite Disease is sometimes, but not always, a fatal one for an openly displayed pyritized fossil. I have some that were fine, but had turned to powder when next I opened the box. On the other hand, I have a large pyritized brachiopod (bought from Malick's Fossils 50+ years ago) that is fine. My impression is that the most unstable ones are the Jurassic ones from the UK, but that is hear-say info. Hi Chas. I had a small sample of various ammonites from the Jurassic Lons-le-Saulnier site in France. They were nice pyrtized specimens at first but within a few years every one of them became reduced to powder. I have a few from about the same part of the Jurassic from Germany that are still fine. I have a couple of pyrite-coated Ptychodus teeth (Turonian age) from South Dakota and they're fine. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplomado Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 On 2/28/2018 at 7:19 PM, caldigger said: Are you in an area that experiences a lot of humidity or moisture in general, ie. the beach? If so you may be a tad bit more susceptible to it. I live in California. We refer to our environment as a "dry heat", lol. We are pretty humid down here in the summer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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