Notice catalographique « Examining the effect of relative humidity on mammoth molars »
- Titre
- Examining the effect of relative humidity on mammoth molars
- Auteur ou éditeur
- Fisher, Samantha
- Lieu de publication
- Kingston
- Maison d'édition
- Queen's University
- Date de publication
- 2014
- Collation
- 22 p.; 29 cm.; ill. (colour)
- Résumé
- Over the years, conservators have seen that fluctuations in relative humidity (RH) can have a damaging effect on art and artifcats, but there is a lack of thorough research on physical effects to environmental changes. In order to understand better how the most vulnerable materials in natural history collections respond to fluctuations of RH, several mammoth molar fragments and three freshly excavated mammoth molars from the Yukon were examined to see what changes occur when they are subjected to a series of different environments. Mammoth molars are particularly sensitive objects composed of closely packed enamel plates along the occlusal surface and cement and dentine throughout the rest of the molar. Deteriorated mammoth molars show fracturing of the layers, powdering, and cracking throughout. Often when these specimens are collected, they are not placed in controlled environments, but instead, they are dried out and stored indoors without RH control.
- During the experiment, salt solutions were used to control the RH in a sealed chamber in order to subject the samples to specific environments from a low RH to high, and then back to a low RH. Weight measurements were taken frequently, and the molars were measured and photographed once before, once between the change from high to low RH, and once right after the experiment. Manual measurements revealed esome increase in lengths and widths of cracks after the first stage of the experiment at the high RH (75%). Sorption response times of 10-100mg samples to changes in relative humidity were analyzed using a TA unstruments TGA Q5000SA sorption analyzer at the Canadian Conservation Institute. All research was performed in conjunction with Rob Waller and with the assistance of the conservation scientists at CCI and Queen's University.
- Notes
- Queen's University thesis - research project submitted to the Department of Art in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Conservation
- Langue
- English = Anglais
- Sujet
- Animal remains (Archaeology)
- Museum conservation methods
- Restes d'animaux (Archéologie)
- Musées - Méthodes de conservation
- Pays
- Canada
- Type de document
- Monograph = Monographie
- Localisation
- AM 145 F57
- Clé
- 17219
- Collection
- Catalogue