Permian Workshop at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

PERMIAN WORKSHOP AT HMNS
 

WASH STATION
When the Paleo Team digs in Seymour, all of the material that is removed while looking for fossils is placed in a bucket and brought back to Houston.  This allows the Team to "Clean" or "Wash" the dirt which leaves behind very small bones and pieces that were missed or not seen the first time.  Buckets of matrix are labelled with the location that the matter was collected from.  In order to wash the dirt, a highly sophisticated system of 2 large storage containers with a very fine mesh in between them are used.  The matrix is placed on top of the mesh held in place by nesting storage containers.  These seem to work best because the high sides prevent the matrix from spilling as easily.  A water hose is used to spray the matrix and to remove the majority of the dirt.  Then the inner container is carefully removed and the mesh is bundled up and then swung in a circle to essentially wring any extra water out of what is remaining.  Then the "washed" matrix will be taken inside and placed on trays to dry.  Then it will be looked at again for fossils both by eye and under a microscope. 
 
Guests draw straws to decide who will be chosen to do "the wash".
    
The Guests were split up into multiple groups so they could get a tour of the Moran Paleo Hall, Participate in the Washing of Matrix, and participate in a lecture.





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