[Rockhounds] Pyrite disease

[Jim Daly]

There was also a locality in Glen Cove, NY (north shore of Long Island) where pyrite (or was it marcasite?) nodules were found in a clay bed in a bay off Long Island Sound. Depending on the tide, they were under about 2 feet of water and another foot of squishy clay. The conventional wisdom was to keep them under water, which I did. They lasted about 40-50 years that way.
  Jim

DonH <donhalterman at verizon.net> wrote:
  The iron sulfides from the famous amber locality, Sayreville, NJ, are 
notorious for disintegrating very soon upon collecting them. They have 
been in a wet, acidic solution for ages, and taking them out allows the 
decay process to start. Fortunately, they are not very pretty anyway, 
and most people are just after either the amber or the preserved plant 
materials.


best,
Don



       
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