Decay of vertebrate fossils and conservation attempts: the case of Montevarchi Museum (Italy)

In the contribution, the causes of decay of the fossils remnants of the Montevarchi Museum (Arezzo, Italy) are investigated together the proposal of possible conservative intervention. Chemical and mineralogical investigations on weathered and non weathered portions of the fossils have been carried out. The presence of soluble hygroscopic salts, as calcium sulfate and iron sulfate (rozenite), caused the main degradation problems in consequence of sudden and repeated changes of the environmental conditions (relative humidity and temperature). Due to the difficult removal of these degradation agents, a consolidation with suitable compounds and storage at constant temperature and relative humidity has been proposed for the conservation of these fossil remnants.