Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-10T03:13:56.312Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Screen-washing unconsolidated sediments for small macrofossils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Barry B. Miller
Barry B. Miller*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240
Get access

Extract

Screen-washing bulk samples of fossilliferous matrix is the method of choice for concentrating relatively large numbers of small fossils from unconsolidated sediments. The technique is most effective when used to disaggregate dry and unconsolidated sand, silt, and silty clay. Ideally, when the dry fossil-bearing particles will pass through an appropriate size screen-mesh, leaving behind a residue of fossils and coarser grain sizes. Organic-rich sediments, overconsolidated silt, silty clay, maris and clays may require soaking in dilute chemical solutions to encourage disaggregation. The extraction of fossils from these more intractable sediments, therefore, generally will be limited to the processing of quantitatively small samples (several hundred grams), in the laboratory.

Type
Techniques for Megafossils
Information
The Paleontological Society Special Publications , Volume 4: Paleotechniques , 1989 , pp. 260 - 263
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

Grady, F. V. H. 1979. Some new approaches to microvertebrate collecting and processing. The Chisler, 1(1), 1978. Reprinted in Geological Curators Group, Newsletter, 2(7):439–442.Google Scholar
Hibbard, C.W. 1949. Techniques of collecting microvertebrate fossils. Museum of Paleontology of the University of Michigan, Contributions, 8(2):7–19.Google Scholar
McKenna, M.C. 1962. Collecting small fossils by washing and screening. Curator, 5(3):221–235.Google Scholar
West, R.G. 1968. Pleistocene Geology and Biology. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 378 p.Google Scholar