Animals marine-boring

In circumstances in which wood is exposed in a marine environment, attack by marine organisms, such as fungi, bacteria and marine boring animals, can occur. Of these, the marine boring organisms (molluscs and crustaceans) are responsible for most of the damage. There is relatively little literature on this subject in connection with modified wood. 

Seele, /. soul shaft (of a blast furnace) core (as of a rope or cable) bore (of a tube). Seelenruhc,/. tranquillity mental rest. See-iicht, n. marine phosphorescence, -luft, /. sea air. -moos, n. sea moss, carrageen, -pflanze,/. marine plant, sea plant, -rose,/, water lily (esp., Nymphaea). -salz, n. sea salt, -sand, m. sea sand, -schiick, m. sea ooze, -seide,/. sea silk (from algae) byssus silk, -tang, m. seaweed (esp., Fucua), sea tang, -tier, n. marine animal -wasser, n. sea water. 

WOOD PRESERVATIVE. A material applied to wood to prevent its destruction by fungi, wood-boring insects, marine borers and fire. A common characteristic of these materials is toxicity to those organisms that attack wood, or in the case of fire retardants the ability to control combustion in terms defined by the Underwriters Laboratory. In addition, a satisfactory wood preservative must aiso (a) be capable of penetrating wood, (bi remain in the wood for extended periods withonl losing its effectiveness due to chemical breakdown, (c) be harmless to humans and animals, (d) be noncorrosive and. (e) be available in quantity at a reasonable cost, Foi certain uses, the preservative may be required to be colorless, odorless, nonswellmg and paintable. 

Nitrogen fixation has also been reported from marine shipworms. Shipworms are bivalves, which live attached to wooden ships, in which they bore holes, and thus have a diet of wood alone. Cellulose is the principal component of wood, and is indigestible to animals. Certain bacterial species, however, contain the necessary enzymes to break down cellulose, and shipworms are often reported with gut associated bacterial symbionts. 

The marine environment presents a hostile and seemingly unlikely situation for the survival of archaeological wood, yet it does survive. Normally, wood does not survive long enough in marine environments to enter the archaeological record because of the activities of wood-boring animals and aerobic microbes. However, studies have shown that rapid burial in the anoxic sediments of the seabed will protect ships timbers and wooden artefacts from the physical, chemical and biological processes that influence the deterioration of exposed wood. 

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