Conservation Research
Current research that involves the Museum conservator and conservation lab
The conservation laboratory is involved with a research group studying Early Carboniferous Tetrapods from the Scottish Borders. These animals are characterised by having four limbs and represent some of the earliest fully terrestrial vertebrates. The laboratory is preparing some of these recently discovered unique fossils. Analysis of the mineral composition of the rock that some of the fossils are preserved in has been carried out in the Department of Earth Sciences, using X-Ray Diffraction. Here you can see a plot showing the mineral composition of one of the specimens. We are interested in this because it will tell us if there any minerals in the rock that could begin to alter and change if the fossil is kept in an unstable environment.
Graph Photo of tetropod skull
You can read more about the project here:http://tetrapods.org
Monday to Friday
10:00 to 13:00 & 14:00 to 17:00
Saturday
10:00 to 16:00
Sunday
Closed
An international team of researchers, including members from the Department of Earth Sciences here in Cambridge, have used an X-ray microscope to investigate meteorite samples from the Sedgwick Museum to learn about the earliest stages of the evolution of the solar system.
Six months after she trundled through Cambridge following a late night at her Namesake College’s May Ball, Clare the Tyrannosaurus rex has finally moved to her new home. The half-size metal sculpture is now a permanent feature outside the entrance to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences.
