Tony Eaton Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 noticed in that thumbnail for the meg that there is a skull pattern glowing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Some NJ belemnites glow a nice orange, And I've found lost of shell fossils that glow orange too. Check long and shortwave UV, and wear face protection too, not just eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thomas : Do you use some sort of UV eye protection ... excessive UV can lead to cataracts in the eyes... and damage the retina... PL Hmm...um...no, actually not! But I am using LEDs with a peak emmision at 395 nm - so pretty close to visible light. And I am prepping under a microscope. The transmission of glass for UV light is not that high. But you are right, to be on the safe side, I should better use a UV-Filter! Thanks Peter! 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...
Han Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 The use of UV light to make pattern visible on fossils is already known for many years. Recently (2010) UV light is used for systematic study of Caenozoic fossils of the Molluscan family Seraphidae. Many still use the synonym Seraphsidae. The results are published in: Caze C. et al (2010) - First systematic study using the variability of the residual colour patterns.the case of the Paleogene Seraphsidae You can find an abstract on: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5252/g2010n3a4?journalCode=geod If anyone want to have the publication (about 5 MB); send me a message with you email address.. best regards, Han Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Hmm...um...no, actually not! But I am using LEDs with a peak emmision at 395 nm - so pretty close to visible light. And I am prepping under a microscope. The transmission of glass for UV light is not that high. But you are right, to be on the safe side, I should better use a UV-Filter! Thanks Peter! You are welcome Thomas... and never wear contact lenses as intense UV / arc lights can cause the plastic lens to weld onto cornea .... one technician in a research lab at a university where I attended +25yrs ago went blind when they removed their contact lens ripping their cornea out.... instant blindness..... Peter Edited March 17, 2011 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megaselachus13 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Here are attached two links with two images located in my gallery. The first example shows a megalodon tooth on matrix from Chile's Miocene being exposed to the U.V. lamp. In the case of this procedence material unlike the Lee Creek ones, shows luminiscence when is exposed to the ultraviolet light and after it has briefly phosphorescence in the absence of light. The second picture shows an open nodule with a specimen of Meyeria magna shrimp inside from the Aptian of Northern Spain (Teruel). I seem to remember that almost all fossilized crustaceans in soft tones is likely to be luminiscent. Apologies for my bad English usage, I have yet to corroborate what I write by online translator and therefore may be more than a grammatical error. http://www.thefossilforum.com/uploads/1224907375/gallery_559_230_89329.jpg http://www.thefossilforum.com/uploads/1223332315/gallery_559_219_144299.jpg ...Hope you like them. Greetings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear-dog Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 noticed in that thumbnail for the meg that there is a skull pattern glowing! Seen that myself.Thats sooo cool. Bear-dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 One of many safety fact sheets I found in a quick Google search: http://www.ehs.uci.edu/programs/radiation/UV%20Lamp%20Safety%20Factsheet.pdf In a nutshell: Ultra violet light gets more dangerous as the wave length gets shorter. Common black lights pose the least risk. The special short UV lamps should be used carefully. Never look directly into one of those and if you think you will be under this light for more than a few minutes cover your skin just as you would for sun protection on a bright day. The light being emitted (fluorescing) from the fossils, minerals, resins, etc. is not dangerous since it is a different wavelength. But be careful of highly reflective surfaces that might bounce some of that UV back at you. Fossils and minerals fluoresce because of minor inclusions of other elements. From what I understand that has to be just the right amount, not too little and not too much. I have always wondered if some of the those elements were introduced via dissolved volcanic ash during some part of the diagenesis of these fossils. For example not all Texas Cretaceous oysters glow but my stuff from the Austin Chalk (Late Cret) does as well as the calcite crystals I have collected in association. But in NJ the belemnites glow, as mentioned above, but the oysters from Big Brook don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettuno Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 These are sth makos under uv light. <a href="http://s965.photobucket.com/albums/ae137/nettuno727/california/?action=view¤t=52734521.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/ae137/nettuno727/california/52734521.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a> Uv light is also a great way to detect fossil repairs as some glues and fillers become very obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 The wavelength of my LED device is 395 nm (nanometers), up at the high end of the UV spectrum. Butvar-76 and Glyptal flouresce. Repairs with epoxy and epoxy casts flouresce brightly. Casts made of polyester resin do not flouresce. That is, in the wave-length produced by these LEDs. As I mentioned earlier, epoxy resin flouresces but polyester resin does not. Here is a cast of a bear-dog maxilla made of epoxy resin colored with tempera pigments. This is a cast from one of the first molds I made, so don't be too critical of the rendition. But, look at the way the epoxy flouresces in UVA! Examination for authenticity is one of the prime uses for UVA (not to mention checking hand-stamps at your local concert or rave.) I was surprised to find that polyester resin does not flouresce, though epoxy resin does. Among bottle collectors, for example, I would expect optically-clear polyester resin would be the repair material of choice, making UVA examination useless. Body fillers like "Bondo" which use polyester resin as a binder would not flouresce. But another dilemma has arisen. Epoxy repairs are very common in vertebrate fossil preparation. Vertebrate bones are often found in pieces, so patches, extensions, and joins are common. Perfection is appreciated in a vertebrate fossil; but, repairs are the norm, so such restoration does not much affect collector interest. (This is a somewhat different attitude than when dealing with invertebrates.) The dilemma? . . . Some of my best, most esthetic vertebrate fossils look awful under UVA because of the lightning-streaks of expoxy joins and repairs! http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 But in NJ the belemnites glow, as mentioned above, but the oysters from Big Brook don't. The belemnites glow? I gotta get myself to some lights pronto! What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 My belemnites dont glow Guess that means I'll have to keep looking and find me sone that does . - ROD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoc Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Mine fluoresce a dull red but not very brightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Mine fluoresce a dull red but not very brightly. I went back and took a look at mine under both short and long UV. They glow a deep orange on the outside and a bright yellow in the core. I also have to completely correct myself: the NJ Navesink FM oysters DO glow. A bright yellow-orange color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Well, I just found a photo that blows the whole thing right out of the water... It's in the January 1993 National Geographic---page 15. Those Seismosaurus bones glow a bright blue. And has an enormous chunk of Seismo bones in matrix ever been faked? Supposedly they engulf it in the UV so they can tell which bits are fossils and which aren't, so they can extract the bones easily. So, is it some natural thing??? What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Well, I just found a photo that blows the whole thing right out of the water... It's in the January 1993 National Geographic---page 15. Those Seismosaurus bones glow a bright blue. And has an enormous chunk of Seismo bones in matrix ever been faked? Supposedly they engulf it in the UV so they can tell which bits are fossils and which aren't, so they can extract the bones easily. So, is it some natural thing??? Lots of natural materials fluoresce; the key thing is that glues, fillers, and such will be revealed because they will look different under UV. "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...
dhk Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 From Morocco?? Most likely the glue holding the manufactured fossils together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 From Morocco?? Most likely the glue holding the manufactured fossils together. From what I gather from other members (haven't tested Moroccan fossils myself), the whole fossil glows. What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsharky Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 From what I gather from other members (haven't tested Moroccan fossils myself), the whole fossil glows. I just ordered a hand-held black light and can't wait to check out my megs under it........ Miocene/Eocene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 tested some lee creek teeth and the enamel glowed a pale yellow and the root was dark with shortwave UV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts