[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: As a new day begins, and while the investigation
at the eye of the swamp continues,
Craig Tester, Alex Lagina, and Oak Island Historian Charles
Barkhaus have traveled some 50 miles Northeast of Oak Island
to St. Mary's University in the city of Halifax.
MAN: Knock, knock.
Hey.
How are you doing?
Good to see you again.
Dr. Brosseau.
NARRATOR: They have arranged for Dr. Christa Brosseau,
an associate professor of chemistry,
to scientifically analyze the possible 18th century
iron spikes that were found in the uplands earlier this week.
If these spikes can be dated to a time
before the money pit's discovery in 1795,
they could not only offer important evidence
that the team is close to locating the main flood
tunnel connected to the fabled treasure shaft,
they could also offer evidence of who
built the elaborate money pit treasure vault and when.
Hi, Xiang.
NARRATOR: Working with her colleague, Dr. Xiang Yang,
Dr. Brosseau will examine the spikes using a high powered
scanning electron microscope, capable of magnifying
objects up to 200,000 times their actual size.
In addition, it can also help identify
their chemical composition.
We see a bit of phosphorus here.
I think this is the first time we've seen phosphorus
in an iron object though.
Oh, well.
So it's typically called phosphoric iron.
Early methods for making cast iron
were not very good at removing phosphorus.
And so you would see it all the time.
It's a good indication that more likely pre-1840s.
That's really cool.
NARRATOR: Commonly found in minerals,
such as iron ore, phosphorus has a great effect
on the durability of metal.
Because high concentrations of it
will cause iron and steel to become extremely brittle,
the practice of extracting it for manufacturing purposes
became common beginning in the mid-19th century.
We found a lot of searcher stuff.
This is different, so maybe this is original.
Yeah.
So right.
More modern manufacturer of a spike
wouldn't have used an iron ore rich in phosphorus.
That's very interesting.
Yeah, very much so.
Yeah, it's really interesting.
But this is a second spike.
Basically, the identical compositions.
OK.
So likely, these two originated from same batch
of manufacturer.
Right.
That's good news.
And so that may help you trace area of manufacture.
Some places in the world where we
have iron ore rich in phosphorus includes
Britain and northern Europe.
Oh, wow.
I get excited every time there's
a new item, a new science that can advance our search.
Is it French?
Is it British?
We don't know for sure.
And we've got the potential to be original.
And that would be huge.
Well, we thank you for the information.
It's great news.
And we're pushing it back as always old
as it is, but ti's science, and it's the truth.
So we'll pursue that.
Yeah.
It's a little bit of more new information.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you again.