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F A C
E T - N A T I O N |
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AMBER |
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| Amber is the fossilized resin, NOT sap, of
trees. In the case of amber, fossilization does not mean petrifaction
or mineralization. Tree resin becomes amber over millions of
years, under conditions of pressure and temperature which are
not fully understood, by evaporation of volatile components,
oxidation, polymerization and perhaps some other processes.
Polymerization is the linking up of individual molecules into
long chains thus altering the gross physical characteristics
of the material. |
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| While fresh resin resembles amber
at first glance, amber is harder (2.0-3.0 on the Moh's
Scale ), is not sticky to the touch and takes a high
polish. |
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| Amber has been known and loved
since prehistoric times. Any references in legends to a
"warm light magic stone" from the shores of the
Baltic Sea was undoubtedly a reference to amber. It was deemed
to be magic because, rubbed on fur or silk, it produced static
electricity which could raise the hairs on a person's arms.
(Plastics do the same.) Also, being an organic substance, it
was always warm to the touch, in contrast to all other
gemstones. A whole series of legends arose in connection with
amber, and to this day many people believe that it brings good
luck to the wearer or has curative or preventative powers
against many diseases. However, amber was bad luck for the
insects, spiders and other arthropods attracted to the fresh
resin and trapped there - and extremely good luck for the
scientist who has been provided with a veritable museum
laboratory. They can study the life of a long ago era and
compare it with the modern; many millions of years later. |
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| Of the 26 orders of insects, only
three have not yet been found in amber: proturans (very fine
primitive insects), anoplurans (sucking lice) and mallophogans
(chewing lice). There have been some spectacular finds in
Amber, these include a well-preserved lizard about 45 cm long,
enhydros (water droplets trapped inside), spiders of several
families, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs (isopods), snails,
nematodes, earth worms, pseudoscorpions, daddy-long-legs (Opilionidae),
mites, ticks, a fragment of bird feather and mammalian hairs.
There are also spectacular botanical specimens.
If an animal was covered with a fresh flow of resin before
decomposition, then the preservation of the body form is
perfect, as is the case with MANY specimens. You can, with a
good magnifying lens or microscope, see very clearly the fine
hairs on an insects legs, individual facets of the compound
eyes and the individual scales on a moth's wings. Sometimes
even the colors are preserved - brilliant greens and blues,
and warm reds, browns and orange. |
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| Generally, the soft internal
tissues have long since dried out and what we see is the empty
casing or shell of the body, while the body cavity itself is
empty, with perhaps a little dust inside. Once in a while the
fresh resin flows into and fills the body cavity and preserves
even the cellular structure to the extent that in one case a
scientist in California is going to try to revive, after 40
million years, the DNA substance in the fossil body of a
fungus gnat!
Does this mean this same scientist could create a dinosaur?
It would be difficult as Dominican Amber is 25-30 million
years old and the last dinosaur disappeared 40 million years
ago!!! As a now famous 1960's television commercial
touted..."It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!" |
| Amber forgery has become a very big
business. Whether you are buying an ant or a scorpion, you
need to be sure you are purchasing the real thing. What makes
it so difficult is amber, like plastics, are polymerized
hydrocarbons. However, there are two simple tests to
determine, with a reasonable degree of assurance, whether a
particular piece is amber or plastic. The first is to drop the
piece into a saturated salt solution; amber will float like a
cork and plastic will sink. In the second test, a hot needle
will melt amber and most plastics, and if brought quickly to
the nostrils, will give a heavy resinous odor (if amber) or a
disagreeable acrid odor if it is plastic. Scientists in
California and West Germany are now working to develop a
laboratory method to determine the age of amber. If
successful, that would be the best way to test for true amber. |
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| Even with today's advanced
technology, dinosaurs could be created from the DNA found in
the blood of a mosquito trapped in Amber. Generally, the soft
internal tissues have long since dried out and what we see is
the empty casing or shell of the body, while the body cavity
itself is empty, with perhaps a little dust inside. Once in a
while the fresh resin flows into and fills the body cavity and
preserves even the cellular structure to the extent that in
one case a scientist in California is going to try to revive,
after 40 million years, the DNA substance in the fossil body
of a fungus gnat!
Does this mean this same scientist could create a dinosaur?
It would be difficult as Dominican Amber is 25-30 million
years old and the last dinosaur disappeared 40 million years
ago!!! As a now famous 1960's television commercial
touted..."It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!
'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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