Guest Nicholas Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 This spring I'll be hitting my first big hunt on a local Peat Bog. I know that this bog has organic material approximately 2 million years old. A teacher of mine hit the bog a few years ago and got some tree limb samples and they were dated at about 2 million years old at the university. I'm so very pumped for this hunt but I'm lacking the proper information for hunting a peat bog. There is lots I need to learn before I make this attempt. Proper tools, techniques, and tips would be appreciated. I would also appreciate if anyone could tell me their experiences with peat bogs. I must add that the preservation of this peat bog is amazing, the limbs which were dated at 2 million years old. They didn't look a day older than 100! haha. No they looked almost new, they were stained really dark by the peat but still amazing. Any tips or tricks would be helpful. Thanks, Nicholas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 This spring I'll be hitting my first big hunt on a local Peat Bog. I know that this bog has organic material approximately 2 million years old. A teacher of mine hit the bog a few years ago and got some tree limb samples and they were dated at about 2 million years old at the university. I'm so very pumped for this hunt but I'm lacking the proper information for hunting a peat bog. There is lots I need to learn before I make this attempt. Proper tools, techniques, and tips would be appreciated. I would also appreciate if anyone could tell me their experiences with peat bogs. I must add that the preservation of this peat bog is amazing, the limbs which were dated at 2 million years old. They didn't look a day older than 100! haha. No they looked almost new, they were stained really dark by the peat but still amazing. Any tips or tricks would be helpful. Thanks, Nicholas Nicholas - not sure if it is 100% applicable, but.... I collect in a 40,000 year old clay with perfectly preserved wood. I have several beaver gnawed limbs and am trying to find some that match up with Casteroides (we have found giant beaver bones and teeth). The wood simply explodes as it dries. The best way to preserve it I've found so far is to soak the wood for 1 week in acetone. This drives out all water. I then replace the acetone with dilute vinac for 1 week. Since the wood is acetone-soaked, the vinac penetrates deeply, and the wood doesn't shrink too much when it finally dries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 I'm just bumping this because I'll be attempting it very soon, right after the first big thaw in April some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Nicholas -not sure if it is 100% applicable, but.... I collect in a 40,000 year old clay with perfectly preserved wood. I have several beaver gnawed limbs and am trying to find some that match up with Casteroides (we have found giant beaver bones and teeth). The wood simply explodes as it dries. The best way to preserve it I've found so far is to soak the wood for 1 week in acetone. This drives out all water. I then replace the acetone with dilute vinac for 1 week. Since the wood is acetone-soaked, the vinac penetrates deeply, and the wood doesn't shrink too much when it finally dries. Preserving water-soaked wood that is not permineralized is a challenge. I have a fire-starter (the base of a bow-drill) stick from a drowned midden site that I've kept in 70% alcohol for decades. I've got a chunk of carbonized wood from the Late Cretaceous of Georgia in alcohol. I keep meaning to do something with them . . . as soon as I can find the chemical preservative. What the museum people use on dugout canoes is, if memory serves, ethelene glycol, the stuff in radiator antifreeze. I don't know where to get unadulterated ethelene glycol locally, and it may not be available retail. It is toxic if ingested. Antifreeze makers brag about all their additives to the basic ethelene glycol, and those additives may or may not be good in a wood preservative. Another suggestion I've read is using sugar as a preservative. The wood is soaked in a sugar-water solution for some time, then is allowed to air-dry. As the wood dries, so I read, the sugar crystalizes in the cells of the wood thus making them rigid. Sugar itself has antibiotic properties, but surely something might find this sugared wood an appealing snack. I guess that leaves Vinac or Butvar-76 or Duco Cement. I'm gonna' get to that project soon! -------Harry Pristis 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...
usaman65 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 i have found cretaceous wood that is very unstable as well...i deluted elmers glue in water in a spray bottle...works like a charm. Just spray your peice, and its hard as a rock the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I find carbonized cretaceous wood, that looks kind of like charcoal. When you uncover it, it snaps, cracks, and pops very loudly as it dries (almost instantly) I have never tried to stop the process, but a guy I know uses tons of diluted elmers glue to keep it to a minimum. For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Elmers(casein) glue is an organic compound that will invite "critters" to munch away. It is a slow process, but they will degrade the piece over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rain1950 Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Another old time method; when using alcohol, is to use very dilute shellac. This is what museums used before the plastics came along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 ^Shellac is a poor choice for it is an organic compound. One of the primary reasons museums stopped using it was because of deterioration of their pieces due to bacteria "eating" the organics in the shellac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 I appreciate all the advice guys! I'm very pumped for this hunt, my only fear is that I'll be unable to prepare my fossils to keep the bacteria from ruining them. Any ideas on how I can keep the bugs off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Elmers(casein) glue is an organic compound that will invite "critters" to munch away. It is a slow process, but they will degrade the piece over time. According to Wikipedia, "Elmer's Glue-All is a polyvinyl acetate-based glue. When added to borax it produces a viscoelastic liquid. While Elmer's white glue used to have a different formulation based on a milk protein (casein), that is no longer true. The product is now derived solely from petrochemical feedstock." That being said, Elmer's Glue-All in a watery solution has never been very effective for me. When allowed to sit for a while, the white glue tends to fall out of solution so that a sludge of white glue adheres to the bottom of the object in the soak. If I ever have to use it again, I will mix it with warm water. I will wait until the object to be preserved is "semi-dry" -- that is, dry enough to get some penetration by the glue solution, but not so dry that the wood starts to distort. I will not let the object soak for more than a few hours. I will rinse the surface carefully to avoid the development of "pearls" of dried glue on the surface. -------Harry Pristis 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...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Thanks Harry, I really needed that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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