Tom Eichhorst asks how to keep pyritic fossils from self-destructing.

Tom, I don't know. I have little hands-on experience with pyritic fossils.
The reactions involve water and oxygen, so it's a good idea to keep the
fossils in an environment with low humidity--such as New Mexico. Curators
have speculated that bacteria might catalyze the process, but antibiotics
do not seem to slow the deterioration. People have tried spraying the
fossils with plastic or fluorocarbons, submerging them in a bath of mineral
oil, and keeping them in a refrigerator, and all of these methods show
promise, but still the fossils deteriorate sooner or later. It is dismaying
to see something deteriorate that lasted for millions of years underground.
I speculate that the fossils might be preserved best in a solid block of
transparent plastic, but not many people are willing to do this,
particularly with type specimens. The consensus seems to be that pyritic
fossils are best preserved in photographs.

I last looked into the literature on pyritic fossils about ten years
ago--lots of ideas, no definite solutions. If anyone knows of more recent
solutions to the problem, please tell us.

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA

"Alabama is a small state in the southeastern part of the continent."