this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2025
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Science Memes

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223
FOOLS! (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] RubberElectrons 65 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Hmm... Is it because fossils are undoubtedly damaged due to the conditions for making pyrite? Something something intrusion?

[–] Thrashy 126 points 4 days ago

Pyrite disease! The pyrite oxidizes in humid air, converting to a mineral that takes up much more volume. If the pyrite is incorporated into the fossil matrix, that expansion causes the fossil to crumble.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They will decay within 2 years after hitting oxygen. Solution: Encase them in resin. Source: What I did with these pyrite fossils on my desk.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

pics or it didn't happen! (I just want rock photos fr)

[–] [email protected] 40 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I posted some snaps here when I first pulled them out of the ground of this batch. I haven't polished the resin yet on most of the encased ones, but I'll post a snap after my phone charges a little bit. I have some fossils that turned into clay, ancient wood fragments and belemnites in there too. All are from the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago

More info about this stuff since dbzero is 504ing:

Haha, all you newbies have cained my main and back up account servers. X)

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

You can see what happens when the wood gets exposed on the little black one. The big guy is clay.

One that's mostly polished up:

I am saving these for teaching tools. They were collected with help from a good friend of mine that does palaeontology. My research is only Holocene lol.

[–] fartsparkles 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Stunning! Thank you for sharing.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Thank you fart✨sparkles. You are stunning too.

[–] RubberElectrons 5 points 4 days ago

😂 this whole post is great

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I love little ancient curly guys <3<3

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

Me too, they're so pretty. They basically fall out of the wall in Dorset.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Tbh I've always wanted to find a pyritized fossil. So cool.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

You can find pyrite fossils in Pennsylvania as well, surprisingly.

https://youtu.be/eueLZrt685I

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Finding Fool's Gold on YouTube: 👍

https://youtube.com/@dingodoodles