The conservation of archaeological marine iron artefacts requires chloride ions removal. In this study, the removal of chloride ions was undertaken by two electrochemical methods: the electrolytic and the galvanic reduction in alkaline media. The results were compared with those obtained by the washing and the sulphite reduction methods, under identical conditions. The experiments were performed on samples coming from an 18th century cast iron cannon‐ball, found in the archaeological context of a shipwreck, l'Océan, which sank near the southern Portuguese coast, in 1759. The extraction of chloride ions was monitored by ionic chromatography (IC). The results allow to conclude that the sulphite reduction experiments using the mixture 0.5 M NaOH/0.5 M Na2SO3 presents the higher efficiency in the first week, being further overcome by both electrochemical methods. After 40 days of treatment, the electrolytic reduction is the most efficient method.

Abstract. Corema album (Ericaceae), "Camarinhas", endemic of the Atlantic dunes of the Iberian Peninsula has the possibility to become a new niche berry crop. Considering the agronomic and market possibilities for this species, the initial research step is the development of a seed germination protocol. We characterized C. album populations along its biogeographical area. The results show that different seeds characteristics differ significantly between sites. We also tested the effect of pretreatments on the germination of C. album seeds (subsp. album) from Duna de Quiaios in 2011, from Comporta in 2011 and Aldeia do Meco in 2011 and in 2012. The results show that there is site-to-site variation in the same year and year-to-year variation in a particular site in percentage of germinated seeds. Acid scarification (30, 60 and 120 minutes) followed by 1000 ppm of gibberellic acid was the most effective pretreatment in breaking dormancy of C. album and this pretreatment promote the best germination from seeds collected from Aldeia do Meco 2011 (30.3%) after 175 days. Our results suggest that the seeds had physiological dormancy. Considering the 2800 seeds collected: 54.5% ruptured the seed coat and 7.7% germinated.