Mastodon Tusk Project Posters
Title
Quantitative Evaluation of Heavy Metals in the Mastodon Tusk Ivory by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
Files
Download Full Text (3.5 MB)
Document Type
Poster
Keywords
Mastodons--Iowa--Franklin County; Fossils--Collection and preservation--Iowa;
Description
One of the most important objects in the University of Northern Iowa Museum collection is the Mammut Americanum (American Mastodon) tusk, which was originally found in 1933 in a sand pit south of Hampton, Iowa. Since then, severe mechanical and chemical damage was done to the tusk in attempts of restoration and storage, as shown in Figure 1. In order to address these problems, the UNI Museum was awarded a Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust Grant to restore and preserve the American Mastodon tusk. The purpose of the project is quantitative determination of the heavy metal content in the core of the tusk ivory by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Information about trace heavy metals found in mastodon ivory, will help to draw conclusions about the dietary habits and the environment of the mastodon. In addition, since heavy metals are toxic even low concentrations, the content of the heavy metals in ivory is needed to be known, in order to avoid the hazard of heavy metal poisoning for the scientists working on further restoration of the tusk.
Publication Date
12-2017
Faculty Advisor
Joshua A. Sebree
Department
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Publisher
Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Copyright
©2017 Dmytro V. Kravchuck and Linda L. Wilson
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Kravchuck, Dmytro V. and Wilson, Linda L., "Quantitative Evaluation of Heavy Metals in the Mastodon Tusk Ivory by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy" (2017). Mastodon Tusk Project Posters. 1.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/mastodon_posters/1
