Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone
Ironstone surrounds many fossils and has a hardness that provides a significant challenge to fossil conservators globally. There are various forms of ironstone, with the carbonate forms of siderite and silicates most often containing vertebrate fossils and potentially preserved soft tissues. The iro...
Published in: | Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |
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The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 |
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ftbioone:10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 2024-06-02T08:05:11+00:00 Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson world 2023-12-15 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 en eng The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 Text 2023 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 2024-05-07T00:51:19Z Ironstone surrounds many fossils and has a hardness that provides a significant challenge to fossil conservators globally. There are various forms of ironstone, with the carbonate forms of siderite and silicates most often containing vertebrate fossils and potentially preserved soft tissues. The ironstone itself is much harder than the fossils preserved within, leading to the mechanical preparation of the fossils––typically using pin vises or airscribes––being time-consuming and presenting the risk of damage. Existing chemical methods for softening ironstone to prepare the fossils have varied success and also pose a risk of damaging the fossil itself. Here we show that carbonic acid can soften ironstone without damaging permineralized bone or potentially preserved soft tissues. Carbonic acid treatments reduced the hardness of ironstone without causing any significant change in hardness, color, chemical composition, or weight to permineralized ceratopsian bones or a modern cervid bone that retained nonmineralized internal tissues. In addition, we found that solutions of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide were viable for softening ironstone to remove from the permineralized bone when preserved soft tissue recovery is not a priority. The treatments proposed in this study are important as they are applicable to a range of preparation scenarios, are cost-efficient, are relatively safe to handle, and cause no damage to permineralized fossil bones. Putting these methods into practice can lead to more efficient and safe preparation of fossils in ironstone. Text Carbonic acid BioOne Online Journals Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 43 2 |
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Ironstone surrounds many fossils and has a hardness that provides a significant challenge to fossil conservators globally. There are various forms of ironstone, with the carbonate forms of siderite and silicates most often containing vertebrate fossils and potentially preserved soft tissues. The ironstone itself is much harder than the fossils preserved within, leading to the mechanical preparation of the fossils––typically using pin vises or airscribes––being time-consuming and presenting the risk of damage. Existing chemical methods for softening ironstone to prepare the fossils have varied success and also pose a risk of damaging the fossil itself. Here we show that carbonic acid can soften ironstone without damaging permineralized bone or potentially preserved soft tissues. Carbonic acid treatments reduced the hardness of ironstone without causing any significant change in hardness, color, chemical composition, or weight to permineralized ceratopsian bones or a modern cervid bone that retained nonmineralized internal tissues. In addition, we found that solutions of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide were viable for softening ironstone to remove from the permineralized bone when preserved soft tissue recovery is not a priority. The treatments proposed in this study are important as they are applicable to a range of preparation scenarios, are cost-efficient, are relatively safe to handle, and cause no damage to permineralized fossil bones. Putting these methods into practice can lead to more efficient and safe preparation of fossils in ironstone. |
author2 |
Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson |
format |
Text |
author |
Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson |
spellingShingle |
Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
author_facet |
Emily G. Cross Clarence Surette Carney Matheson |
author_sort |
Emily G. Cross |
title |
Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
title_short |
Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
title_full |
Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
title_fullStr |
Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geochemical Extraction of Ceratopsian Remains from Ironstone |
title_sort |
geochemical extraction of ceratopsian remains from ironstone |
publisher |
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 |
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world |
genre |
Carbonic acid |
genre_facet |
Carbonic acid |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2282650 |
container_title |
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
2 |
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1800749955771531264 |