The large-scale extraction of microvertebrate fossils from sediment residues using Interfacial Methods

The wet-sieving of sediments on the tonne scale has been used, probably since the mid-1800s, to search for Mesozoic mammal teeth and other microvertebrate fossils. Unfortunately, more sediment can usually be washed than can be searched, because of the very laborious nature of hand-picking non-enriched sediment residues. esidues can be enriched cheaply and effectively using Interfacial Methods, which exploit differential wetting phenomena. Placed in a suspension of kerosene in water, microvertebrate fossils become wetted preferentially with the kerosene, which then allows them to adhere to granules of paraffin wax; these are removed and melted to release the fossils. periment is described where 8.92 kg of a quartz-rich residue (from 13 tonnes of raw sediment) was processed using apparatus centred on a cement mixer. r scale ‘low tech’ apparatus designed for use in the field and improvised from various items of household waste, etc., were used to enrich various sediment residues weighing between 500 g and 1582 g. tical aspects of the process were investigated experimentally with an eye to their practical significance.