Re: Stabilizing a fossil in a friable shale

[ewan.fordyce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (ewan fordyce)]

For field consolidation of smaller fossils when other things have failed,
when the specimen is a bit damp, and when it seems better to collect an
unsatisfactorily-stablised specimen than none at all: you might try hair
spray.

Pros: Colleagues have used hair spray successfully for field stabilisation
of delicate leaves and fish on thin laminae of soft damp friable
diatomaceous mudstone.
Cons: I haven't used it myself and can't endorse it from first hand
experience.  Also, after ~25 years, some specimens collected this way have
darkened and warped.

R. Ewan Fordyce
Associate Professor
Department of Geology
University of Otago
PO Box 56, Dunedin, NZ
fax 64-3-479-7527