P1258821026MAsGO

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AMBER...
Not just another old fossil.
Presentation by Stephanie Martin, KW Gem and
Mineral Club, November 2009 Photos by Andre
Mongeon unless otherwise noted
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'Amber, the freezing gold, that is not hot and is
not cold Has caught within its dreaming
arms, the insects and the flowers charms. Time
has kept as still as death, holding instant,
every breath. Now from out our fading past,
a scene which
can forever last' -Garry Platt-
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What is Amber?

• Amber is fossilized resin (not sap) from ancient
  trees, largely coniferous.
• The oldest amber known is approx 320 million
  years old, but on average most harvested today is
  usually in the 40 myo range.
• As the resin is subjected over time to sustained
  heat and pressure, it becomes polymerized. This
  is followed by the gradual release of the
  aromatic terpenes from the aging resins and
  becomes true amber. In the intermediate stage it
  is known as copal.
• The average hardness of amber is 2.5 and is
  generally represented by the formula C10 H16O.
  It has low specific gravity.
• It floats in salt water but sinks in fresh
  water.
• Most commonly amber is coloured in the
  yellow-orange-brown hues, however it can also be
  whitish (bony amber), almost black, dark red,
  green, and a certain variety can appear blue.
  Amber often has inclusions of organic material or
  insects.
• There are 5 main classifications of amber
  determined by the chemical bases and stages of
  the resins. Class I is the most common and
  includes the commercial ambers such as Baltic
  amber and Dominican amber.

wikipedia
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VARIETIES Baltic- yellow- amber-orange
brown Red from Burma
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Blue from the Dominican Republic
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• Amber has been used since Neolithic times. It
  has been used for jewellery, ornaments, incense,
  religious and burial artifacts, medicinal use,
  varnish, and even flavouring.

Display items photographed and used with
permission, from The Amber Room, Kingston, ON
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• Etymology and Folklore
• Amber was mistakenly cross-referenced from the
  French ambergris, a whale by-product that washed
  up on beaches.
• The ancient Greek word for amber is elektron,
  which translates into originating from the
  sun.(Later translated as electrum gold). The
  Greeks were the first to describe the unusual
  electrostatic properties of amber. If amber is
  rubbed briskly with a cloth, it produces enough
  electrostatic charge to pick up a piece of paper.
  Hence this is the root of our modern word
  electricity.
• Ancient Rome Latin word for amber was Langurium
  or Lyncurium  from lincurio meaning 'urine of
  lynx' -  formerly believed to be condensed urine
  of Lynx also associated with Liguria, a region
  of Italy where amber was supposed to be found.
• Turkey - Oltu Stone Turkish fable has it that
  mouthpieces for smoking made from it prevents
  infection when pipes are shared. To this day it
  is used in the manufacture of smoking and
  glassblowing mouthpieces.

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INCLUSIONS Today amber is of interest to
scientists who study the inclusions. Insects
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EVEN FROGS AND BIRDS
Hint fakes
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• Where is amber found?
• MAIN LOCALITIES
• The Baltic sea- Poland, Kaliningrad Russia,
  Lithuania
• Dominican Republic
• Burma
• USA, Indonesia, Mexico, Columbia, UK and many
  other locations of minor output.

wikipedia
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• Each regional amber has its own
  characteristics.
• Baltic Amber has a component of succinic acid
  (between 3 to 8), and is a by-product of the
  fossilization process specific to this amber. As
  a result scientists have named this amber
  succinite. The resins were thought to be produced
  by the genus pinites succinifer, but it has since
  been disproven, with the results that the species
  may actually be of the araucarian family.
• Dominican amber contains little to no succinic
  acid and has been named retinite. Resin from the
  extinct species Hymenaea protera (legume family)
  is the source.
• Dominican amber is usually much clearer than
  Baltic Amber. This enables scientists to study
  the visible inclusions in them more readily and
  has allowed a theoretical reconstruction of an
  ancient ecosystem.
• In sunlight some Dominican amber can appear to
  be blue. This is due to specific hydrocarbons
  from this amber being fluorescent in natural
  light, hence
• our eye sees blue amber.
• Dominican Amber is mined in dangerous open bell
  pit mines.

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Dominican Amber
Termite in amber
Leaf in amber
wikipedia
wikipedia
Blue amber worry beads
Mining
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• DNA Myth Fact or Fiction?
• Have scientists been able to extract DNA from
  fossilized organisms in amber? What about
  Dinosaur DNA from biting insects?
• In 1992 a California team indicated they had
  extracted DNA from a type of bee in Dominican
  Amber. This was followed by a few other reports
  of similar success. However this has not been
  repeated after numerous attempts, casting doubt
  on the original findings. The previous results
  were rejected as the result of contamination.
• Reasons why this is largely science fiction
• DNA degrades quickly
• Even if it does not, enzymes from inside the dead
  organism destroy internal tissues and DNA
• The probability of finding a total sequence of
  intact DNA without damage or missing parts is
  astronomical
• The amount of effort to map the genome would take
  scientists years
• The finding of DNA from a dead organism and then
  finding viable DNA from something it fed on are
  beyond the realm of possibility, at least at this
  stage in time
• Even if this were possible, they would have to
  find amber that was old enough Dominican or
  Baltic amber is not and then find a viable
  insect that may have fed on a dinosaur, etc.
• Myth busted.

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Archeological discoveries trace the route of the
Amber Road From the Baltic sea to the middle
east and beyond, a trade route that existed
before Roman times.
wikipedia
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• Baltic Amber accounts for 80 or more of
  commercial amber. It is mined all along the
  Baltic Sea coast, but the Russian city of
  Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) is the most
  prominent producer. Many methods are used to
  recover the amber including dredging and power
  pumping. This has had a negative effect on the
  Baltic ecology.
• The Baltic Sea has complex flows and does not
  refresh in the way of a typical open body of
  water. There are layers of salt water and fresh
  water that displace at intervals. These currents
  are disturbed and this is causing ecological
  damage, in addition to the physical scarring of
  the dredging.
• Baltic amber has been important historically. In
  Europe it was called the Gold of the North.
  The ancient trade route known as the Amber Road
  was instrumental in the economy and politics of
  this part of the world from pre-Roman times and
  throughout the middle ages. Amber craftsmen
  founded their first workers guild in 1480 AD.

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The Amber Room History with a Mystery
The Amber Room prior to WW II
wikipedia
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The Amber Room was commissioned by Freidrich
Wilhelm I of Prussia in 1701. It was created by
craftsmen who worked in Vienna. At that time
amber was worth 12 times the price of gold and it
nearly bankrupted him. In 1716 it was given as a
gift by Freidrich II to Czar Peter of Russia as
he had greatly admired it on a recent visit. It
was hoped the gift would cement a military
alliance against Sweden. The room was moved
unfinished to Russia, where it was moved, and
moved again, augmented by Russian craftsmen and
finally completed under Catherine the Great in
1770. It contained a total of 6 tons of amber.
This became a permanent fixture at her summer
palace and was often called the eighth wonder of
the world. In WW2 during the German invasion it
was confiscated and sent to Königsburg palace
where the panels were being temporarily stored
for safe-keeping. It was rumored that the panels
were then again sent on their way to another
hiding spot, but they disappeared on the
way. The mystery continues. Was it destroyed in
a bombing raid on Königsburg? Were the panels
sunk on a ship in the Baltic? Thrown in the
river? Hidden in an underground Nazi stash? All
theories have been investigated. Interestingly, a
piece of the stone mosaics from the room have
recently turned up, from a family of a Nazi
soldier who accompanied the team assigned to move
the panels. A tease or the last remnants? In
1979 there was a bold movement to recreate the
amber room while there were still craftsmen
capable to do the work. Working from pictures,
the amber room was completed in 2003 and is now
on display at the Catherine Palace in St.
Petersburg, Russia.
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Close-up of detailed amber in the reconstructed
Amber Room (some made from pressed amber)
Wikipedia
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Treatments Linseed oil, heating usually to
improve clarity FAKES Inclusions -space carved
out then filled in real amber -often modern
insects in perfect poses, vertebrates are
RARE -coloured amber green, red AMBROID
reconstituted or pressed amber (with or without
inclusions) (detected with polarized
light) Plastic, Celluloid, Glass COPAL Resin
that is not completely fossilized Genuine
material but not amber New Zealand Kauri gum
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Canadian Amber, eh?

• Yes, there is Canadian Amber!
• Main known deposit is at Cedar Lake, along the
  Saskatchewan River, Manitoba, also some at
  Grassy Lake, Alberta
• It is retinite as opposed to succinite
• It is of upper cretaceous age, making it
  important for paleontology
• A mosquito was found in Canadian Amber making it
  one of the few that are known from a time when
  dinosaurs still existed

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Fin