Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T04:15:42.639Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stabilizing pyritic material

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Donald L. Wolberg
Donald L. Wolberg*
Affiliation:
New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico 87801
Get access

Extract

The minerals pyrite and marcasite (broadly termed pyritic minerals) are iron sulfides that are common if not ubiquitous in sedimentary rocks, especially in association with organic materials (Berner, 1970). In most marine sedimentary associations, pyrite and marcasite are associated with organic sediments rich in dissolved sulfate and iron minerals. Because of the rapid consumption of sulfate in freshwater environments, however, pyrite formation is more restricted in nonmarine sediments (Berner, 1983). The origin of the sulfur in nonmarine environments must lie within pre-existing rocks or volcanic detritus; a relatively small, but significant contribution may derive from plant and animal decomposition products.

Type
Techniques for Megafossils
Information
The Paleontological Society Special Publications , Volume 4: Paleotechniques , 1989 , pp. 244 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bannister, F. A. 1933. The Preservation of pyrites and marcasite. The Museum Journal, 33:72–76.Google Scholar
Berner, R. A. 1970. Sedimentary pyrite formation. American Journal of Science, 268:1–23.Google Scholar
Berner, R. A. 1983. Sedimentary pyrite formation: An update. Geochemica et Cosmochemica Acta, 48:605–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birker, I., and Kaylor, J. 1986. Pyrite disease: case studies from the Redpath Museum, p. 21–27. In Waddington, J., and Rudkin, D. M. (eds.), Proceedings of the 1985 Workshop on Care and Maintainance of Natural History Collections. Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publications, Royal Ontario Museum.Google Scholar
Booth, G. H. and Sefton, G. V. 1970. Vapor phase inhibition of thiobacilli and ferrobacilli. A potential preservative for pyritic museum specimens. Nature, 226:185–186.Google Scholar
Cornish, L. 1987. The treatment of decaying pyritifierous fossil material using ethanolamine thioglycollate. Geological Curator, 4(7):451–454.Google Scholar
Cornish, L., and Doyle, A. 1984. Use of ethanolamine thioglycollate in the conservation of pyritized fossils. Palaeontology, 27:421–424.Google Scholar
Rixon, A. E. 1976. Fossil Animal Remains. Their Preparation and Conservation. Athlone Press, London, 304 p.Google Scholar
Sinkankas, J. 1972. Gemstone and Mineral Data Book. Winchester Press, 364 p.Google Scholar
Windholz, M. 1983. The Merck Index. Merck and Company, Rahway, New Jersey, 1463 p. plus appendices (640 p.).Google Scholar