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| Chemical Characteristics |
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Amber, as a natural plastic has no consistent chemical formula but consists basically of three elements: Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen and sometimes Sulphur in proportion to flora or fauna inclusions it holds.
Although the name "amber" is used more specifically for fossilised resin which contains succinic acid (3 - 8 %), it is commonly applied to any fossilised resin found around the world. Some purists have strong opinions about this matter.
To them, fossilised resin which posses no succinic acid should be classified as retinite. Some even go as far as teaching that true "amber" only should refer to resins of pines (Pinus succinifera) and/or other conifers of the Araucaria Family (Araucariaceae) in the 50 million-year-old Eocene deposits of the Baltic Sea region.
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Dominican Republic amber's fossil resin comes from trees of the Hymenaea family, related to the West Indian locust tree (Hymenaea courbaril). Caribbean amber contains no succinic acid. But the fact is, that even clear Baltic amber usually has lower levels of succinic acid, opaque amber has more. Is clear amber therefore "less amber"?
According to Dr. Jean Langenheim, UCSC, (professor emerita and research professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, who has been studying amber and resins for more than 40 years) the presence of nonterpenoid succinic acid is of little value in characterizing fossil resins.
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See Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany and The Fascinating World of Plant Resins (UCSC). And quite some other scientists have a similar balanced opinions. Find more information at Baltic v/s Dominican Amber.
Basic amber data are as follows:
Color: Yellow, orange, red, brown, gold, almost black (with carbon) and white (creamy). In the Dominican Republic: greenish and also with the typical blue hue.
■ Luster: Resinous
■ Transparency: Transparent to translucent, but also opaque
■ Crystal System: does not apply, amber is amorphous
■ Habits: Include nodules in shales or sandstones and washed up on beaches. In Dominican Republic it is mined
■ Fracture: Conchoidal
■ Hardness (Mohs): 2+ (Dominican (-2)
■ Specific Gravity: 1.05 - 1.09, max 1.30 (extremely light, floats in a 10% salt solution)
■ Other Characteristics: Can be burned, fluorescent usually under UV light. All Dominican amber is strongly fluorescent, blue Dominican Amber is flourescent even without an additional UV light source. Easy to charge staticly (see below)
■ Chemistry: Approx. C10H16O - C10H16O12 - C12H20O - 13C40H64O14
■ Class: Mineraloids
■ Locations: Baltic countries: Prussia (Poland), Baltic Sea, Siberia, Dominican Republic, Burma, Germany, Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, Romania, Sicily, and less frequent in other countries. ■ Uses: Ornamental, gemstone and semi-precious stone, scientific investigations (i.e. paleontology, fossilology)
■ Origin of the name: from Arabic anbar ambergris
The Greek name for Amber is: electron. Around 600 BC, Greeks found that by rubbing an electron (Amber) against a fur cloth, it would attract particles of straw. For over 2000 years this strange effect remained a mystery. But in the 1600's, Dr William Gilbert investigated the reactions of amber and magnets and first recorded the word 'Electric' in a report on the theory of magnetism.
Isn't it interesting that the words "Electricity" and "Electronic" are related to this beautiful gemstone?
Much information can be found at
The World of Amber
by Susie Ward Aber, Emporia State University
Emporia, Kansas, USA
and at
AMBER HOME, Garry Platt, United Kingdom
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