What is amber? Thanks for visiting the World of Amber! What is Amber? Amber is the fossilized resin from ancient forests. Amber is not produced from tree sap, but rather from plant resin. This aromatic resin can drip from and ooze down trees, as well as fill internal fissures, trapping debris such as seeds, leaves, feathers and insects. The resin becomes buried and fossilized through a natural polymerization of the original organic compounds. What type of depositional environment preserved amber? How is amber formed? Amber is a fossilized resin, not tree sap. Sap is the fluid that circulates through a plant's vascular system, while resin is the semi-solid amorphous organic substance secreted in pockets and canals through epithelial cells of the plant. Land plant resins are complex mixtures of mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenoids, which have structures based on linked isoprene C5H8 units (Langenheim, 1969, p. 1157). Volatile terpenoid fractions in resins evaporate and dissipate under natural forest conditions, leaving nonvolatile terpenoid fractions to become fossilized if they are stable enough to withstand degradation and depositional conditions.

The fossil resin becomes incorporated into sediments and soils, which over millions of years change into rock such as shale and sandstone. Therefore, amber is formed as a result of the fossilization of resin that that takes millions of years and involves a progressive oxidation and polymerization of the original organic compounds, oxygenated hydrocarbons. Although a specific time interval has not been established for this process, the majority of amber is found within Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks(approximately 30-90 million years old). Why is resin produced? Although there are contrasting views as to why resin is produced, it is a plant's protection mechanism. The resin may be produced to protect the tree from disease and injury inflicted by insects and fungi. Resin may be exuded to heal a wound such as a broken branch, and resins possess odors or tastes that both attract and repel insects (Langenheim, 1969, p. 1167). In mature trees, resin may simply exude from vertical fissures in the bark due to tension produced by rapid growth (Langenheim, 1969, p. 1166).

Resin may also be produced as a plant's method for disposing of excess acetate. What is amber's botanical affinity? There is no one tree responsible for the resin that fossilizes into amber. Botanical affinities have been suggested based on examination of the entombed debris and through chemical studies of the resin. The botanical affinity of jelinite, Kansas amber, appears to be from the Araucariaceae family, which is considered to be a primary Mesozoic amber tree. Although this tree does not exist today in the northern hemisphere, it would closely resemble Agathis australis, or the huge Kauri pine found today in New Zealand. During most of the Mesozoic geologic time period, gymnosperms dominated land vegetation. Conifers are the most successful gymnosperm living today (Cleal & Thomas, 1999, p. 62).

Some of the amber land plants were probably conifers from the order Pinales, in the families: Araucariaceae (e.g., Norfolk Pine, Monkey Puzzle, Kauri Pine), Taxodiaceae (e.g., sequoias and bald cypresses), Taxaceae (e.g., yews), Pinaceae (e.g., pine and larches), Cupressaceae (e.g., cedars, cypresses, junipers), and Podocarpaceae. Studies by G�ppert (1836), based on botanical debris entombed in amber, concluded that members of the Pinaceae were the source of Baltic amber. Specifically, G�ppert (1836) designated the amber tree as Pinites succinifer, although he clearly stated this wood anatomy was not the same as any living pine today.

Disregarding botanical evidence and concentrating on chemical evidence, Beck (1999) and Larsson (1978) suggested sources other than Pinaceae for Baltic amber, including Araucariaceae, Cupressaceae, and Taxodiaceae; they believed that chemically G�ppert's Pinites was a closer match to the Araucariaceae than to Pinaceae. When was Kansas amber produced? Kansas amber was found among Cretaceous age rock, which is in the Mesozoic Era. Fossil resin and copal occur on the North American continent among strata from Triassic to Recent. The oldest amber is found in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, New Mexico (Grimaldi, Nascimbene, Luzzi, Case, 1998, p. 81). The next oldest deposits of amber are Cretaceous in age. The most abundant North American Cretaceous fossil resins are from the states of Alaska and New Jersey, USA and from the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba, Canada. What type of depositional environment preserved amber? One depositional environment for amber is marginal marine.

Amber's specific gravity is slightly over 1 and it floats in saltwater; therefore amber becomes concentrated in estuarine or marine deposits, moved some distance from the original site (Langenheim, 1969, p. 1159). Trees and resin may be transported and deposited in quiet water sediments that formed the bottom of a lagoon or delta at the margin of a sea. Wood and resin are buried under the sediment and while the resin becomes amber, the wood becomes lignite. Wet sediments of clay and sand preserve the resin well because they are devoid of oxygen. Therefore, given copious resin producing trees and appropriate burial conditions, amber is preserved in sedimentary clay, shale, and sandstones associated with layers of lignite, a woody brown coal. A generalized interpretation of the depositional conditions present in Kansas amber-bearing strata is that a transgressing or advancing Cretaceous sea in north-central Kansas led to deposition and preservation of fluvial, estuarine, and lagoon or bay deposits behind a barrier island system (Franks, 1980, p. 56). For more information: An excellent overview of Baltic amber (authored by B.

Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, K. Leciejewicz, K. Kwiatkowska, and A. Pieli&#241ska) can be found at Andzia's Amber Reading Room has many interesting articles to choose from, and Amber Myths and History at Quick Amber Facts at Dragonfly Amber.com, . Resins Resins 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Mailstop Code: 1103 Washington DC 20250-1103 What is a plant resin? Pine resin. What do you think of when someone says resin? Images of sticky, gummy sap-like substances instantly jump to mind and most people consider all these plant products to be resins. Not all these sappy liquids are resins however. Resins are plant products that, are not soluble in water, harden when exposed to air, do not play a role in the fundamental processes of the plant, and are generally produced by woody plants. Resins are produced in special resin cells in plants, and are also produced when an injury occurs to the plant.

Resins can be produced through the bark of a tree, the flowers of an herb, or the buds of a shrub. Think of a pine tree that has a missing tree limb. What do you see? Sticky “sap” flows from the tree, essentially making a bandage over the wound that hardens and eventually fossilizes into an incredibly hard substance called amber. What is not a resin? Carnivorous plants such as the spoon-leaved sundew (Drosera intermedia) use mucilage to trap insects. Plants produce many compounds that can be confused with resins. These compounds include: Tabonuco Tabonuco (Dacroydes excelsa). Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution. Tabonuco (Dacroydes excelsa) is a regal rainforest tree found in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico. These magnificent native giants are the dominant large tree species that formerly covered all the lower and middle slopes of the mountains of Puerto Rico. They can grow to 100 feet tall with a diameter exceeding 40 inches. Because of their beauty and resistance to decay, tabonuco trees have been used for all types of furniture, cabinetwork, boat construction and boxes.

The smooth pale bark of tabonuco exudes a white resin that was used medicinally by early settlers and for making candles and incense. Tabonuco resin was also useful for making torches for starting fires and caulking material for boats. The endangered Puerto Rican parrot feeds on tabonuco seeds and the tree is rarely cut today. People and Resins Humans have used resins and amber for thousands of years. The trade of amber can be traced back to the Stone Age (3500 BCE) while the history of resin can be traced to just before 1700 BCE during the Bronze Age. Amber An ant preserved in amber. Photo by Mila Zinkova. Amber is fossilized plant resin. Amber has been known to preserve insects and other small organisms that were imbedded in the resin before it hardened. Amber is used for scientific research but it is used more widely for jewelry and art. It is often considered a gemstone although it is not a mineral. Amber can be many colors, including green, gold, brown, red, black, and even bluish.

The most well known and highly used amber comes from conifers, mostly pines; however, these same trees are not in existence today. Different amber sources have been dated from 40,000 years ago to 310 million years ago. Amber can be found in deposits over many parts of the globe, generally in river deltas or sedimentary soils where water had washed plants downstream. The remaining plant structures, including their resin, fossilized and created amber. European amber trade first began in the Stone Age, yet amber had been used ornamentally for hundreds of years before that. The best known amber deposit is from the Baltic Sea in north-central and Eastern Europe. From there, amber trade routes went to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. Amber artifacts have been found in China (from Myanmar deposits) and Central America. Many cultures valued amber as religiously significant, due to its warm tones and ability to preserve life such as insects and plant parts. Other cultures used it to bargain for metal and necessities. Today, amber is still valued for its aesthetic beauty. Incense Balsam, cedar, and fir needle incense. Photo by Teresa Prendusi.

Traditionally, incense was derived from plant resins, commonly from frankincense and myrrh trees. Resin is tapped from the tree and allowed to harden. When it is burned, the hardened resin releases aromatic smoke. Incense was a valuable commodity. Trade routes began from the southern coast of Arabia to the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia regions, beginning c. 1000 BCE and ending shortly before 500 CE. Incense was used in Egypt, Greece, Italy, China, India, and other places. Eventually, the trade routes collapsed because of better shipping routes, the loss of incense trees to agriculture, the demand for wood, and a decrease of rainfall in the region. Other parts of the world, such as Central America, used resins for incense as well, although from plants native to those areas. Both the Maya and the Aztec used resin from the copal tree as incense. Today, incense is made of other plant materials, in addition to resin, such as leaves, bark, seeds, fruits, roots, and rhizomes. Resin Ship builders have used the liquid form of resin for thousands of years.

It was used to waterproof rope and tarps, and was made into tar or pitch to seal the seams of wooden ships. The British Empire used resin for its navy, originally buying it from the Baltic region. However, they had to find a new source of resin, of which the American Colonies had plenty, due to the abundance of pine trees. Because of the demand and use of pines for resin, the first conservation legislation in America was passed in Massachusetts, requiring permits to cut or de-bark pines. As sources of resin disappeared along the east coast, manufacturers looked elsewhere in America for resin sources. Collection of pine resin for distallation to turpentine ("cup and gutter system"). Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service. After the Revolutionary War, Britain went back to the Baltic for its resin stores while the new United States stored its own resin for pitch and tar. At one point, the southern United States was the world’s supplier of resin. Since the pine forests of the Southern United States were exhausted, and resin collection by tapping trees was getting too expensive, manufacturers started using mechanical means of refining wood by-products to collect resin. Developing countries around the world still use traditional methods for as long as their sources last.

Turpentine and Rosin Resin was also used to make turpentine and rosin. Turpentine was traditionally used in paints, but is now used in the chemical industry as a base to produce solvents, cleaners, fragrances, dry cleaning, and insecticides. It is also used in artificial flavors such as lemon, peppermint, and nutmeg, as well as cosmetics. Rosin was discarded as a waste product until after the Civil War. It was used then as laundry soap but now as a variety of unrelated industrial products, such as adhesives, printing inks, and chewing gum. Varnish and Lacquer Varnish is plant resin combined with a solvent and drying oil (also derived from plants) to make it easier to apply to surfaces. It is commonly used for wood finishing and other crafts to provide protection and a glossy finish. Natural lacquer is simply liquid resin. It is not mixed with any other solvents. Today, lacquer is a mixture of resin and quick-drying solvents; although in the United States, the name is used for a synthetic product. Did you know? Resin in hops (Humulus lupulus var. neomexicanus) gives beer its unique aroma and bitter taste.

Photo by Teresa Prendusi. Resin in hops gives beer its unique aroma and bitter taste. Rosin is used for the maintenance of the bows of stringed instruments such as violins because it adds extra friction. As the bow is used, the rosin heats up and develops some stickiness, providing better notes. Resin is used for skateboards to prevent cracking, chipping, and breakage. Turpentine from certain pine trees has been used medicinally for treatment of cough, gonorrhea, and rheumatism. Tar water, resin steeped in water, used to be recommended by doctors for illnesses such as smallpox, ulcers and syphilis. Rosin was used for abscesses, boils, and cancer. Turpentine was also used for astringents, stimulants, diuretics and laxatives, as well as a flea repellant. Before chicle was harvested for chewing gum, spruce resin was used for chewing. Once it hardened on the tree, it was ready to chew. Spruce resin softens when it is chewed and turns the mouth a reddish color. As you can imagine, it tasted like resin, which is said to be pleasing.

Native Americans used resin from red cedar and juniper to treat colds and rheumatism. They inhaled the smoke or used it in vapor baths to relieve symptoms. Amber was worn to ward off evil, including disease, since prehistoric times. The Baltic people wore amber jewelry to avoid headaches and throat problems, and in Mexico, amber carved in the shape of body parts was worn for the health of that particular body part. Scientists can extract the DNA of organisms preserved in amber and recreate parts of their DNA strands. Organisms like plant leaves, flies, mosquitoes, beetles, other plant tissues, have all been preserved in amber. Amber facts AMBER, A FOSSILIZED TREE RESIN THE SWEDISH AMBER MUSEUM The Swedish Amber Museum in Kämpinge is close to sandy beaches in the southwestern corner of sweden. When the storms begin in the autumn, the local people head for the beach to search for the "Gold of the North". Maps at the museum give a hint about good locations. Anyone can find a pebble, but the 1 kilo pieces and bigger are very rare. Amber from coastal erosion is transported along the shores of all the countries around the southern Baltic Sea.

Its weight is slightly heavier than the water in the Baltic Sea. It floats like a soap on the bottom, following the streams until it comes up on the shore or sinks in shallow water. Sometimes it is mined in clay deposits or found among the quartz sand. In saturated salt water it floats. (Melt a couple of spoons of salt in a cup of water and test your amber.) HISTORY AND TRADE The museum shows artifacts from the Stone Age through the Viking Age, to the jewelry of today. During the Middle Ages, prayer beads were exported as the main product of tooled Baltic amber. From the 16th century into the 18th century, bracelets, necklaces, containers, boxes, bowls, plates, flutes, buttons, mouth pieces for pipes, chess sets, watch cases and even luxury interior fittings were made using amber. The bulk of the amber trade took place in Königsberg and Danzig, modern Russia and Poland, respectively. In Rome, during the reign of Nero, Romans travelled to the coast of germania to purchase amber. One expedition proved so successful that a special "amber day" was arranged, where this costly item was used to decorate the gladiator games.

In the protective netting between spectators and the arena, a glittering amber ornament was placed within each knot and the actual arena was apparently strewn with amber! During that time, the southwest coast of the Baltic Sea was the most important supplier. The Romans maintained regular trade connections with northern Europe along the so called "Amber Routes". Even earlier, amber was revered by the Phoenicians, who traveled the seaway to what is today the Danish west-coast. Grave-finds from all countries around the Baltic Sea prove that earlier amber was a common trade object to Stone Age man. Since prehistoric times amber has thus been a readily sought after material. Its color, luster, warmth, aroma, electric properties and background, in a scientific sense, place amber in a special category among ornamental stones. AMBER AND MAGIC In days gone by, amber was acclaimed to possess the power of healing. Worn as a necklace or charm, or carried around in small bags, amber was believed to be a remedy against such ailments as gout, rheumatism, sore throats, toothache and stomach-ache. It was also believed that amber accelerated birth and was a good remedy against snake bites.

To guard against the swapping of a new born baby, the infant it was often given an amber necklace to wear. Amber was supposed to contain magical powers, which is why heart shaped amber charms were carried to offer protection against evil forces and help against witchcraft. AMBER FACTS During the Roman times, higher prices were paid for small amulets in amber than for healthy slaves. In 79 AD, Plinius wrote that the women of northern Italy wore amber beads against thyroid. Martin Luther carried a piece of amber in his pocket as a protection against kidney stones. In ancient China it was customary to burn amber during large festivities. This practice both signified the wealth of the host as well as honoring the guests. According to Mohammed, a true believer's prayer beads should be made of amber. The father of healing, Hippocrates, declared amber active against a number of diseases including delirium tremens. Over 2500 years ago, Thales of Miletos discovered that when amber was rubbed against cloth, sparks were produced and then the amber attracted husks and small wooden splinters. This force was given the name "electricity" after the Greek word electron which means amber.

AUTHENTIC AND FALSE AMBER In the display the Amber Museum also explains about how to tell the difference between true, treated and false amber. Amber is often sold heated, melted and pressed or even mixed with or made from synthetic materials. Most true Baltic amber is milky and pale under the crust. The warm "amber" color occurs first after it has been exposed to oxygen for about a hundred years. To make amber more attractive to the purchases, todays industrial amber jewelry producers are manipulating to get the warm brown-reddish amber color, which often also includes discs, called sunspangles. The most common method make amber clear is to put the material under pressure and heat in an autoclave together with nitrogen. After this procedure, it is put into an oven to obtain the sunspangles and the cognac color. This heating and treating is made to make amber jewelry more attractive. Baltic amber occurs naturally in a variety of colors: white, yellow, brown, black, red, green and blue. The most common are honey-colored and milky. A small percentages is bone white, due to microscopic gas bubbles. The clear and translucent amber results from flowing and dripping resin. This kind often shows layers from continuing flow on already dried resin.

The black and dirty brown colors are caused by a mix of resin, soil and plant fragments. The most rare have a tone of green or blue caused by gas or inclusions. If the craftsman keeps part of the natural shape, when sanding the raw amber, the crust or inclusions give a natural variety of multicolored tones. It is possible to melt amber pebbles and press them to bigger lumps. It then becomes harder, and less brilliant when cut. Any color can be added in this procedure. This pressed amber is still considered as natural amber by some producers. PLASTIC COPIES Since the bakelite and plastic era began early this century, there has been a number of fake amber qualities in the commercial market. Bakelite necklaces were sold in Europe in the early twenties, when amber was in fashion. In the markets in Morocco, North and East Africa, as well as in the Middle East and India, amber colored plastic necklaces are very common. They are often sold as antique trade beads. Sometimes they are old, very beautiful, large egg-yolk colored strands, but they are still plastic, and tend to be heavier than amber.

The original, real trade beads, which were distributed from northern Europe around 300 years ago, are very rare to find in the market. It is difficult to see the difference, but if a heated needle is put into the hole of a bead, the smell of burned plastic immediately appears. Baltic amber smells like pine resin. Even without heating the needle, you can tell the difference. Plastic is elastic, and the needle gets stuck in the material, but true amber is brittle and small pieces will chip off by the pressure. A scientist from British Museum of Natural History, found a falsification in their collection. A very well preserved fly was described as a palaeontological rarity from the beginning of the 19th century. Someone had divided the piece and carved a concave hole and then put the fly in and covered it with an "amberlike" material before gluing the halves together again. Since the "Jurassic Park" movie, fortune hunters from all over the world have tried to create attractive plastic-imitations with inclusions, sold as true amber. Sometimes even mammalian hair and feathers are skillfully baked in.

They are often carved as a Buddha or other figures, sometimes presented with lumps of the same plastic material with a surface that looks like a natural amber crust. To complete the imitation the faked raw lumps are dipped in oil with a smell of resin. COPAL, YOUNG RESIN Resin has always oozed to protect trees all over the world, and the process is still going on. The older the resin is, the harder. It takes millions of years for the resin to harden to amber. When the resin is younger than one million years, it is called copal, a product traded as raw material for varnish and lacquer before the modem synthetic products were developed. In New Zealand, copal was mined and exported all over the world in the beginning of the century. Today the industrial remains are shown in museums on the North Island. Among the large pieces in the showcases there are quite a few with perfect lizards and giant spiders enclosed, the result of a kind of melting technique used by the miners. There are almost no inclusions in the New Zealand "Kaurigum", opposed to the very fossil-rich copal from East Africa and Colombia. Copal turns sticky and smells like fresh resin if heated.

It does not take a good polish and the crust comes back in a few years. It is transparent in a champagne color and very brittle. There are different sources in many places, varying in age from a couple of thousand years to one million years. IS AMBER FOREVER? Unfortunately, amber is not forever. Roman beads, 2000 years old, have developed a new thick crust. The Baltic amber jewelry from the last centuries has the fine net of new crust on the surface. It is possible to polish it, but it is very difficult with the faceted kind of jewelry that was common at that time. Some amber from the Dominican Republic crusts already after 10-20 years. In Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, germany, their valuable collections of inclusions are preserved in plastic-coating to keep them from the devastating oxygen. Only the amber deep down in geological deposits has "survived" since it oozed from the trees. So, what is found today is only very little of all the resin the trees have produced during millions of years. "JURASSIC PARK" In the wake of the movie "Jurassic Park", the interest in amber with inclusions has been increasing rapidly.

In the movie, scientists extracted DNA from dinosaur blood enclosed in the stomach of mosquitoes in amber. Through cloning, real dinosaurs were created, and the rest of the story you probably already know. Scientists from the British Museum of Natural History, are now after years of testing, questioning if earlier DNA extractions are conterminated. No successful experiments proved so far. Most amber found today was formed during the Tertiary Age, about 30-50 million years ago, after the dinosaurs were extinct. In a few places such as Lebanon, New Jersey (USA) and Alava (Spain), amber from the age of the dinosaurs (65-220 million years ago) has been found, but in very small amounts. REALISTIC SCIENCE What the movie above all contributed to among scientists all over the world was an increased awareness of how extremely well inclusions in amber are preserved. After millions of years they are visible in three dimensions, showing microscopic details clearly. They may even show behavior or "stories" from the bottom of the prehistoric forests. The prehistoric conifers, (Pinus succinifera), from which Baltic amber originates, were growing in a subtropical climate in what today is northern Europe.

Due to its light weight, Baltic amber was an easily transportable material during the formation of bed deposits during the iceages. Much of the amber found today has been relocated several times. Different kinds of amber are found throughout the world. The amber from Dominican Republic and Mexico comes from a leaf tree, which grew in tropical climate. USA EXHIBITIONS After showing our collection of Baltic amber at the Tucson Mineral show, the Amber Museum in Sweden has been invited to exhibit rare specimens at natural history museums all over USA. In our exhibitions there are many pieces including 40 million year old "frozen stories". Some contain insects trapped in the sticky resin during their mating act; others show behavior like ants transporting eggs or carrying away trapped prey. Other specimens include insects caught by spiders, sometimes wrapped up in webs, microscopic arthropods on rotting leaves, fungus growing on dead substances, pollen falling out of the anthers of a flower, small mites riding on beetles and many more. These frozen moments from the floors of the prehistoric forests can teach us much about the fauna and flora at that time. Scientists can compare inclusions in amber with todays similar species and study the development through the ages.

The insects in amber are very much the same as the ones living today. Their evolution began 350-400 million years ago. When trapped, they were in the early Tertiary Age (30-50 million years ago), already similar in appearance to today's insects. The mammals were beginning to develop during this era, and a few inclusions of mammalian hair are found, as well as some bird feathers and reptile skin pieces. Recently an entrapped lizard in amber was found in Gdansk-area, Poland. By Fossil Amber Fossil Insects (Many specimens are amber inclusions) Fossil Amber or Fossil Resin Amber is the popular name for fossilized resin of botanical origin. The proper scientific terminology is fossil resin, but we will use the terms amber and fossil resin interchangeably. The word amber also denotes a golden color that amber predominately reflects (recall that when human eyes see color, it is actually the portion of the visible light spectrum that an object reflects that is detected). In fact, amber reflects many frequencies of light, including red, green and blue that together constitutes the entire visible spectrum.

Archeological findings show that amber was one of the first materials prehistoric humans used for ornamentation, with instances dating back as far as 30,000 years. Use of fossil resin for jewelry and other decoration continues unabated, and amber is often considered as a gemstone. Amber is also valued for its botanical and animal inclusions that are trapped by the sticky resin as it flows as sap, which is also organic. Of course, other life is captured including microscopic bacteria that often produce gas bubbles, and various fungi. Both the botanical and animal inclusions not only add beauty, but also are of potential scientific value in the study of taxonomy and evolution. Animal inclusions are usually invertebrates, specifically arthropods, and only extremely rarely a vertebrate such as a tiny lizard. Fossil resin inclusions are predominately insects, which should be no surprise since botanical resin is an evolutionary adaptation of plants that is, in part, for protection against insects. Fossil Amber Chemistry Fossil resin's molecular constituency is mainly carbon and hydrogen atoms that readily form hexagonal rings. Molecular bonding between the rings increases over time (called polymerization), and the sticky resin becomes hard.

There are other types of atoms in trace to larger amounts that alter physical properties and may be substrates to certain organic solvents. For all practical purposes, the hardened resin, or amber, is a "plastic". Just when the resin becomes amber, or a fossil, is not defined, and is perhaps not definable. It is even contentious, since fossil resin is a commercial product in a competitive market. Younger amber is often called copal, though it is essentially as hard and its physical properties differ little from older resins. All fossil resins are substrates for both hydrophilic (e.g., alcohol or acetone) and lipophilic (e.g., benzene) organic solvents and will disolve in them. The solvents will create various weak chemical interactions with the resin in order to solubilize it. The most common of these interactions are the relatively weak van der Waals interactions (induced dipole interactions), the stronger dipole-dipole interactions, and the even stronger hydrogen bonds (interaction between O-H or N-H hydrogens with O or N atoms). Diamonds (and most mineral based gems) are forever, but fossil resin (amber) is not.

As an unstable organic polymer, amber is biodegradable, just like a plastic milk jug or fiberglass boat. Its many weak covalent bonds and weaker hydrogen bonds are easily broken, a process that is accelerated by electromagnetic radiation of all frequencies and heat; ultraviolet is especially damaging (do not expose amber to sunlight), while visible and infrared much less so. Thus, while amber is, in a sense, the perfect preservative of fossils, once removed from the environment in which it formed, it is destined to crumble into dust; the time is long compared to the human lifespan, but essentially instantaneous on a geological timespan. Diamonds, on the other hand, go on forever. Amber, Natural Selection and Chemical Warfare Fossil resin (a.k.a., amber) is the result at least in part of nature's oldest drama, predator versus prey. Science does not yet know when it appeared in the Kingdom Plantae's arsenal of survival tactics, but natural section has conserved and probably diversified its usage. In temperate climates, the pines are prodigious producers of resin, which is used to make turpentine. In tropic climates, the genus Hymenaea, a timber tree, is the prolific producer.

The evolutionary advantages of resin are varied. The resin is exuded to seal wounds such as from wind, fire, lightening or insect predation. Resin also contains a diversity of chemical defensive weapons. Some of these repel insects, and others attract insects that attack harmful insects, or attract parasites of insects that attack the plant, or are toxic to harmful fungi; in short a diverse chemical arsenal. A Container for the whole Tree of Life In terms of the Tree of Life, amber is most interesting since it entombs all three domains, Arachaea, Eubacteria and Eukarya. Archaea and eubacteria microbes are, of course, everywhere and surely embedded in the amber at high density. Interestingly, it is possible that some microbes. Still controversial finding a decade old claims to have recovered from the gut of a Hymenoptera from 30 million year old Dominican amber some three-dozen species of bacteria from ancient spores that grew on culture plates. The bacteria are from the extant genus Bacillus, a group that go dormant forming spores. Interestingly, Bacillus thuringiensis is used in the biological control of insects.

Bacillus thuringiensis parasitizes the caterpillars of some harmful moths and butterflies. Spraying or dusting plants with its provides some protection against gypsy moth, tent caterpillar, and the tobacco hornworm. The bacteria has a gene that produces a toxic chemical warfare. The gene for this toxin has also been introduced into some crops. Fossil Amber Ecosystems One way to view amber is as a sealed unit containing a cross section of an ancient ecosystem with all its intricate predator-prey as well as beneficial symbiotic systems (e.g., termites as the methane produced by symbiotic bacteria that digest fiber in the termite gut). Fossil resin is a superb preservative, with organisms such as insects and spiders preserved in full three-dimensionality and in living color. To some degree, even, nucleotide sequence from ancient DNA is preserved, although resurrection of a Jurassic dinosaur is clearly science fiction. Amber's Geographic Dispersion Amber comes from throughout the world, even the Arctic. However, in terms of commercial availability, the Baltic area of Europe produces vast amounts, followed by the Dominican Republic in a distant second, with minor amounts coming from Central and South America, and more specifically, Mexico and Colombia, respectively.

Amber from other localities is miniscule. Baltic Amber An enormous amount of fossil resin is extracted on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, and these strata are dated to be Eocene in age, give or take a few million years, thus making it some of the oldest amber that is available in commercial quantity. The largest Baltic amber mine is in Kaliningrad, Russia, but Baltic amber is also found in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia, and sometimes washes ashore far away in Denmark, Norway, and England. Fossil inclusions are relatively rare, almost always in isolation and usually tiny, and the amber is normally occluded with botanical debris and bubbles; for this reason, fossil specimens are best made viewable in pieces cut to small size prior to polishing, and pictures many times require a trinocular microscope. Dominican Amber Geological data for amber from sedimentary deposits in the Dominican Republic predict an age dating to the Oligocene, in the range of 20 to 30 million years old, presuming the resin is a primary in situ deposit, and not a secondary deposit by transport/erosion etc.

Dominican amber from Cotui, however, is Pliocene or Pleistocene, has larger and more insects, and is otherwise indistinguishable from older material from the dated sedimentary deposits. Since resin-producing trees are still abundant in this tropical island area, resins of any age are possible. The older fossil resins are from deep mines in the hillsides, and the extraction can be a dangerous proposition, with risk of being buried in a cave in. The insect inclusions in Dominican amber are fairly abundant, the insects larger, and the amber of higher clarity than found in Baltic amber. Though uncommon, fossil association are found more frequently in Dominican amber. Colombian Amber Far and away the most fossiliferous amber originates in Colombia, albeit it has become fairly widespread that all fossil resin from Colombia is called copal. The amber versus copal distinction is lost on many geologists and paleontologists that are aware that scientific data is unavailable to determine the age of fossil resins from this region. The consensus age estimate seems to be Pleistocene (up to 2 million years old), but estimates range to the Lower Miocene (about 20 million years old).

Though geological studies are unlikely soon in this region that is controlled by drug cartels, it seems safe conjecture that there is a large range of age across different deposits, similar to that of the Dominican Republic. In the Dominican Republic, mine cave-ins are a danger for some of the older deposites; in Colombia the danger might be AK47's of the drug producers. Whether amber or copal, young or old, the fossil insects and other arthropod inclusions and their associations are truly sublime in Colombian amber. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Colombian amber to those with a scientific propensity is the wonderful fossil associations. So many species are often in association that the specimen will represent an ecological cross section of an ancient rainforest. Amber versus Copal - Obfuscation not science A few more words about the distinction between amber and copal, both slang terms without scientific basis, is warranted. We absolutely disdain scientific prostitution, and are therefore compelled to expose it. Fairly widespread on the Internet and in several popular and otherwise wonderful "amber" books are statements that there is no amber from Colombia, and that Colombian amber is "young" copal, because it has not yet undergone some mythical transformation that is never described.

This is a perfect example of the old saw: "if you tell a lie enough times, it becomes (perceptive) reality"; such obfuscation is perhaps to be expected from commercial interests, but is shameful when individual scientific credentials are used as justification. Any polymer chemist studying fossil resin chemistry would quickly discern that the essential constituents and chemical binding characteristics are demonstrably the same in all fossil resin, regardless of locality, and regardless of age, once the material has hardened - there is no important scientific distinction to be made. Several of these sources offer as fact a small sample from one locality in Colombia carbon dated at a couple hundred years old. They then make the banal extrapolation that the small sample's age can be extrapolated to all fossil resin in what is a huge country where trees have been producing resin for as long as anywhere else. Besides the idiocy of presuming all fossil resin is the same age as the one sample, they neglect to point out that the evolutionary adaptation of resin production has not been eradicated from plant genomes. That is, plants continue to make resin, and thus the only plausible assumption is that fossil resin exists in a continuum of ages to present in all places where it is found, unless the botanical source has disappeared.

It is unfortunate that a few gemologists and others not trained in science continue to promulgate scientific poppycock. For a few more words on this, Dr. Robert E. Woodruff, Emeritus Taxonomist, Florida State Collection of Arthropods, who has collected and studied fossil resin and insects in fossil resin throughout his career, has several thoughts to share on the copal versus amber controversy . Those who draw distinction between fossil resin, amber and copal are either exhibiting scientific ignorance, and engaging in deliberate obfuscation for financial gain. Internet sources of information about fossil resin are virtually useless, and are essentially replicating and cross-linking nonsense masquarading as science. One of the most conspicuous examples is the assertion that copal will dissolve in acetone but amber will not. Any chemistry student by their junior year should be able to refute this, or they should not graduate. In reality, fossil resin is a substrate to most solvents. Solubility may, in fact, vary depending on the chemical constituency of different fossil resins, but any statement that solubility determines authenticity is putting the cart before the horse.

Another more general falsehood is that age directly correlates with authenticity due to the time required for cross-linking of carbon chains depending on diffusion and loss of terpenes. Yet, Miocene-age coal deposits in Sumatra have yielded resinites that are wholly unstable to environmental exposure. For decades now, sellers of amber from the Baltic region in Europe have stated that the only authentic amber comes from there, and sellers of amber from both the Baltic and Dominican Republic have said that fossil resin from Colombia is not authentic amber. This self-serving disinformation will become truth when swiss chocolate is not chocolote because it does not come from Hershey, Pennsylvannia. One of dumbest statements to be found on several Internet sites is: "But amber is a true fossil; it has turned to stone"; yea sure it has. Such a transformation would be infinitely harder than turning lead into gold. I wonder who was dumber, the person who copied and pasted it, or the person who wrote it in the first place. For decades, the suppliers of abundant fossil resin from the Baltic and Dominican Republican operated in a cartel-like manner, controlling the sources, and sustaining prices well above intrinsic value. The Internet age of global communication and resultant supply chains broke the cartel.

Amber from these sources can now be obtained at a fraction of the price of years past. References Anderson KB, Crelling JC. (1994) Amber, resinite, and fossil resins. ACS symposium series (A.C.S. symp. ser.) ISSN 0097-6156 Cano RJ, Borucki MK. Revival and identification of bacterial spores in 25- to 40-million-year-old Dominican amber. Science. 1995 May 19;268(5213):1060-4. Kasman LM, Lukowiak AA, Garczynski SF, McNall RJ, Youngman P, Adang MJ. Phage display of a biologically active Bacillus thuringiensis toxin. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1998 Aug;64(8):2995-3003. Cano RJ, Poinar HN, Pieniazek NJ, Acra A, Poinar GO Jr. Amplification and sequencing of DNA from a 120-135-million-year-old weevil.

Fossils - Window to the past Fossils Amber What is an amber ? This is another type of fossilization where the organism is entrapped in a biologically inert environment and it is preserved wholly. For the insects, which frequently occur in this type of fossilization, "chitinous skeletons are little altered, but the soft inner tissues are missing." Many physical and chemical agents of abiotic environment such as the oxidative air and temperature and biotic factors such as bacteria and scavengers accelerate the decomposition of a dead organism. Avoidance of these factors would aid in preserving the organism and eventually amber formation. Amber is basically fossilized resin of a coniferous tree of early Tertiary (about 70 million years or so). According to Poinar, resin is "complex mixtures of terpenoid compounds, acids, and alcohols secreted from plant parenchyma." One of the differences between resin and sap is the latter's solubility in water since most of it is water from the xylem (water transporting system) of the tree. The process of amber formation Basically, organisms fall or drop into it when resin first exudes out of the tree due to its extreme stickiness.

Oleoresins, essential oils, compose most of the first deposited resin. It is volatile and is usually lost through the years. Additional resin drops on top of it and gives the organism a typical suspended appearance. Then the resin hardens and becomes less vulnerable to destruction by the environment. Hardened resin has a higher chance of being fossilized since it can resist the environment better than pliable resin. The resin is hardened through a process called polymerization, where "small molecules (monomers) combine chemically to produce a large network of molecules." Hardened resin is called copal. This is one of the factor necessary to produce amber. As the copal ages, concentration of the essential oil decreases while the copal progressively oxidizes the resin and polymerization continues. The copal slowly turns into amber million years after the first entombment of the organism. The only way to differentiate between the two elements would be to put them through many physical and chemical tests such as UV light testing, burning, and various other tests.

The most famous example is the amber from the Baltic Sea region (Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, the former Soviet Union, Great Britain, Estonia, Latvia, and Holland) where many organisms rarely found anywhere else in the world from the Oligocene epoch from the Tertiary period occurred here. Because of the presence of microscopic air bubbles, Baltic amber tend to appear cloudy or milky with the hue varying with quantity and quality of the microscopic air bubbles. Index Amber Amber 4.5 cm long x 3 cm wide x 1.5 cm thick Click on specimen to open up a close-up window. Amber is referred to as petrified tree resin or sap. I prefer petrified tree resin as the term sap refers to fluids transported by xylem or phloem tissues (Raven, Evert, & Curtis, 1981, p. 659). Conifers and some deciduous trees produce resin in response to injury. Resins are viscous liquids that contain volatile terpene compounds and organic solids. Under the right conditions resins polymerize and harden with age, turning into copal. After several million years copal matures into amber.

Tree resin breaks down when exposed to drying and oxidation within just a few thousand years. It is not surprising then that amber deposits do not represent forest floor environments. Amber deposits usually represent marine environments. Amber deposits form when resins produced in forests are transported by water to oceans or lakes, where they are deposited into the sedimentary layers. Quick transport and deposition protects the resin from weathering. Once deposited, the resin chemically matures into intermediate forms called copals and finally into amber after millions of years. The amberization process is estimated to take between 2 and 10 million years. However, the type of depositional environment may also affect the time needed for amberization. Amber from Borneo is found in sand and clay sediments deposited in a deep ocean 12 million years ago. The material that comes out of the sandstone has matured into amber, while the specimens from the clay are still copal (Ross, 2010, pp 8-9). Petrified resins have been found in Carboniferous, Triassic, and Jurassic deposits, but represent minute amounts of resins produced inside trees. Resin that collects inside trees does not act as an insect trap.

The first occurrence of fossil containing amber is Cretaceous in age. The majority of amber deposits that contain fossils were formed during the Cenozoic (Weitschat & Wichard, 2002, pp.9-10). Fossils entombed in amber are referred to as inclusions. Although the organisms often look complete, most appear to be thinly lined hollow spaces (Weitschat & Wichard, 2002, p. 29). However, under the right conditions the internal organs can be well preserved. The preserved internal organs of a bee exhumed from Dominican amber have been imaged using an electron microscope (Grimaldi & Engel, 2005, p. 59). Studies using scanning electron microscopes as well as transmission electron microscopes have revealed internal organ preservation in Baltic amber spiders and gnats. It seems that many orangisms are preserved through mummification. In the process of mummification, dehydration results in up to a 30% decrease in volume of tissues. The decrease in tissue volume gives the organisms the appearance of an empty husk (Selden & Nudds, 2004, p. 134).

The shape of a specimen can be a clue to whether the amber formed inside the tree as an internal resin accumulation or outside the tree as an external resin accumulation. Resin can collect inside the void of a tree, drip off a branch, or flow along the outer bark. Resin that collects inside a tree usually does not contain fossils. Resin that accumulates on the outside of a tree can act as an insect trap. Fossils are almost exclusively found in specimens formed by successive resin flows that collected on the outside of the tree. These specimens are referred to as Schlaube (Weitschat & Wichard, 2002, p. 12). Organisms become trapped in the resin and are then covered by a successive resin flow. You can usually see the plane representing a successive resin flow; it often looks like a fracture in the amber. Amber can represent a brief snapshot in time. Amber has preserved insect developmental stages, mating, egg laying, brood care, feeding, as well as various symbiotic relationships. Amber with and without fossils can be quite valuable so, it is often faked.

See Ross (2010) for an excellent discussion regarding materials used to make fake amber and tests that can be used to distinguish real amber from imitations (pp. 11-15). Most Abundant Types of Insect Fossils By Debbie Hadley Updated November 11, 2015. Since insects lack bones, they didn't leave behind skeletons for paleontologists to unearth millions of years later. How do scientists learn about ancient insects without fossilized bones to study? They examine the abundant evidence found in the different types of insect fossils described below. For the purpose of this article, I've defined a fossil as any preserved physical evidence of insect life from a time period prior to recorded human history. Amber Much of what we know about prehistoric insects is derived from evidence trapped in amber, or ancient tree resin. Because tree resin is a sticky substance – think of a time when you've touched pine bark and come away with sap on your hands – insects, mites, or other tiny invertebrates would quickly become trapped upon landing on the weeping resin. As the resin continued to ooze, it would soon encase the insect, preserving its body.

Amber inclusions date as far back as the Carboniferous period. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Scientists can also find preserved insects in resin dated just a few hundred years old; these resins are called copal , not amber. Because amber inclusions form only where trees or other resinous plants grew, the insect evidence recorded in amber documents the relationship between ancient insects and forests. Put simply, insects trapped in amber lived in or near wooded areas. Impressions If you've ever pressed your hand into a freshly poured bed of cement, you've created the modern equivalent of an impression fossil. An impression fossil is a mold of an ancient insect, or more often, a part of an ancient insect. The most durable parts of the insect, the hard sclerites and wings, comprise the majority of impression fossils. Because impressions are just a mold of an object that was once pressed in the mud, and not the object itself, these fossils assume the color of the minerals in which they are formed. Typically, insect impressions include only a mold of the wing, frequently with sufficiently detailed wing venation to identify the organism to order or even family.

Birds and other predators that might have eaten the insect would find the wings unpalatable, or perhaps even indigestible, and leave them behind. Long after the wing or cuticle has decayed, a copy of it remains etched in stone. Impression fossils date back to the Carboniferous period, providing scientists with snapshots of insect life from up to 299 million years ago. Compressions Some fossil evidence formed when the insect (or part of the insect) was physically compressed in sedimentary rock. In a compression, the fossil contains organic matter from the insect. These organic residues in the rock retain their color, so the fossilized organism is conspicuous. Depending on how coarse or fine the mineral comprising the fossil is, an insect preserved by compression may appear in extraordinary detail. Chitin, which makes up part of the insect's cuticle, is a very durable substance. When the rest of the insect body decays, the chitinous components often remain. These structures, such as the hard wing covers of beetles , comprise most of the fossil record of insects found as compressions. Like impressions, compression fossils date back as far as the Carboniferous period.

Trace Fossils Paleontologists describe dinosaur behavior based on their study of fossilized footprints, tail tracks, and coprolites – trace evidence of dinosaur life. Similarly, scientists studying prehistoric insects can learn a great deal about insect behavior through the study of trace fossils. Trace fossils capture clues to how insects lived in different geologic time periods. Just as hardened minerals can preserve a wing or cuticle, such fossilization can preserve burrows, frass, larval cases, and galls. Trace fossils provide some of the richest information about the co-evolution of plants and insects. Leaves and stems with obvious insect feeding damage comprise some of the most abundance fossil evidence. The trails of leaf miners, too, are captured in stone. Sediment Traps Younger fossils – if one can call 1.7 million year old fossils young – are recovered from sediment traps representing the Quaternary period . Insects and other arthropods immobilized in peat, paraffin, or even asphalt were entombed as layers of sediment accumulated over their bodies. Excavations of such fossiliferous sites often yield tens of thousands of beetles, flies, and other invertebrates.

The La Brea tar pits , located in Los Angeles, is a famous sediment trap. Scientists there have excavated well over 100,000 arthropods, many of them carrion feeders that were preserved along with the large vertebrate carcasses on which they fed. Sediment traps provide scientists with more than a catalogue of species from a certain geological time frame. Quite often, such sites also offer evidence of climate change. Many, if not most, of the invertebrate species found in sediment traps are extant. Paleontologists can compare their fossil finds with the current known distributions of living species, and extrapolate information about the climate at the time those insects were entombed. Fossils recovered from the La Brea tar pits, for example, represent terrestrial species that inhabit higher elevations today. This evidence suggests the area was once cooler and moister than it is now. Mineral Replications In some fossil beds, paleontologists find perfect mineralized copies of insects. As the insect's body decayed, dissolved minerals precipitated out of solution, filling the void left as the body disintegrated. A mineral replication is an accurate and often detailed 3-dimensional replica of the organism, in part or whole.

Such fossils typically form in places where water is rich with minerals, so animals represented by mineral replications are often marine species. Mineral replications give paleontologists an advantage when excavating fossils. Because the fossil is usually formed of a different mineral than the surrounding rock, they can often dissolve the outer rock bed to remove the embedded fossil. For example, silicate replications can be extracted from limestone using an acid. The acid will dissolve the calcareous limestone, leaving the silicate fossil unscathed. Life Trapped in Amber from Age of Dinosaurs Life Trapped in Amber from Age of Dinosaurs By Live Science Staff | April 9, 2010 03:18am ET MORE A host of bugs, fungus and other life forms have been found trapped in amber from the time of the dinosaurs. The 95-million-year-old amber deposit could shed light on when and where plants first flowered and then diversified during the Cretaceous period, scientists reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research reconstructs an ancient tropical forest uncovered in present-day Ethiopia, all from an era when Earth's continents were huddled into one supercontinent .

"Until now, we had discovered virtually no Cretaceous amber sites from the southern hemisphere's Gondwanan supercontinent," said Paul Nascimbene of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. "Significant Cretaceous amber deposits had been found primarily in North America and Eurasia." "The first angiosperms, or flowering plants, appeared and diversified in the Cretaceous," explained fellow researcher Alexander Schmidt of the University of Göttingen in Germany. "Their rise to dominance drastically changed terrestrial ecosystems, and the Ethiopian amber deposit sheds light on this time of change." The amber itself proved interesting. [See the life trapped in amber.] Amber is fossilized tree resin. Bugs can become encased in amber if, while alive, they get stuck in the resin. The resin that created the newfound amber from the Cretaceous period was found to be similar chemically to more recent ambers from flowering plants in Miocene deposits found in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Other ambers known from the Cretaceous period were generated by non-flowering plants, called gymnosperms.

"The tree that produced the sap is still unknown, but the amber's chemistry is surprisingly very much like that of a group of more recent New World angiosperms called Hymenaea," Nascimbene explained. "This amber could be from an early angiosperm or a previously-unknown conifer that is quite distinct from the other known Cretaceous amber-producing gymnosperms." An international team of 20 scientists contributed to the study. They found 30 arthropods trapped in the amber from 13 families of insects and spiders. These fossils represent some of the earliest African fossil records for a variety of arthropods, including wasps, barklice, moths, beetles, a primitive ant, a rare insect called a zorapteran, and a sheet-web weaving spider. Parasitic fungi that lived on the resin-bearing trees were also found, as well as filaments of bacteria and the remains of flowering plants and ferns. Gallery: Life Trapped in Amber ALL ABOUT AMBER ALL ABOUT AMBER What is Baltic Amber? Amber is often confused with tree sap but is actually formed from fossilized tree resin.

It has been prized since Neolithic times for use in jewelry and ornamentation, and often features inclusions like insects and leaves. Tree resin is a substance that flows beneath the bark of a tree to protect the tree from insect or storm damage. Amber is not to be confused with sap, which flows through the tree's heartwood to transport nutrients to the tree. Resin has a syrupy consistency and piney fragrance, which comes from chemicals known as terpenes (a naturally-occurring hydrocarbon). Scientists believe that over millions of years, the terpenes break down and escape from the resin, forming amber. Where does Amber come from? Baltic amber is mainly found in the areas surrounding the Baltic Sea which is why it is called “Baltic” amber. Resin has been found in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belorussia and as far west as the United Kingdom. Baltic amber accounts for over 90% of the world’s known amber today; however, amber is found all over the world including Mexico and the Dominican Republic. One of the newer fossils introduced to the world market is Caribbean Amber.

It is found in Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Venezuela. Caribbean Amber is almost always clear or nearly clear in opaqueness light green to dark green hues. Baltic amber usually ranges from very light yellow to dark brown in color and may also be opaque (cloudy) in appearance. Baltic Amber History Even before mankind knew that there were things called antibiotics, the people of Europe recognized that amber had magical curative powers. They used it when we today would use an antibiotic. Even doctors during the Civil War, lacking anything else, would sometimes slap tree resin on a wound as a disinfectant which saved lives. European scientists and military doctors lead the way in following up on the earlier knowledge. They found that amber would help improve the body’s immune system after exposure to radiation from industrial accidents. How Can Baltic Amber Help Us? The signature of true Baltic amber is the presence of succinic acid. Succinic acid is another name for amber acid that has been used in Europe as a natural analgesic, antibiotic and general curative for centuries. The positive influence of succinic acid has been scientifically proven by Nobel-prize winner Robert Koch and recent scientific research.

Natural Baltic Amber is high in succinic acid content and contains as much as 8 percent by weight. Succinic acid is also a natural component of plant and animal tissues and it is very important to your body. Succinate is a raw material and a catalyst in the Krebs Cycle which is one of the main sources of energy in the human body. During the Krebs Cycle, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are metabolized for energy. A powerful antioxidant that helps fight toxic free radicals and disruptions of the cardiac rhythm, succinic acid has been shown to stimulate neural system recovery and bolster the immune system, and helps compensate for energy drain in the body and brain, boosting awareness, concentration and reflexes, and reducing stress. It has also been found to help the immune system combat infections, help cure hangovers and work against other toxins. (Succinate supplements have been shown to help reduce the effects of hangovers by activating the degradation of acetaldehyde - a toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism - into CO2 and H2O through aerobic metabolism.) Amber is also electronegative so it produces negative ionization where it’s touching the skin and negative ionization helps the body repel illnesses.

Baltic amber contains natural analgesic properties and helps take the edge off of many types of discomfort. When worn around the neck, it is especially helpful in alleviating pain associated with dental issues, headaches, joint pain, etc. which makes it a very popular option for treating teething pain in infants. How Does A Teething Necklace Work? The teething necklace works like an extremely effective natural analgesic and it’s healing effects will help to calm your baby. It enhances calmative, analgesic, antispasmodic, expectorant, and febrifuge (anti-fever) functions. When you place the amber necklace next to your baby's warm skin, the amber releases healing oils which are naturally absorbed via the skin into the bloodstream. These oils reduce pain caused by teething, red inflamed cheeks and it stimulates the thyroid glands to reduce drooling. Baltic amber is known to boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, accelerate healing, and reduce throat, ear and stomach infections and respiratory disease as well as simply maintain healthy living. You will find that using an amber teething necklace will mean that you do not have to resort to the use of unnatural drugs.

We all understand the benefits of using organic, natural products especially for our babies. Unlike unnatural remedies such as teething gels or pain relief syrups, the traditional beaded amber teething necklaces are a far less intrusive remedy for the pain and side effects of teething. Using an amber necklace teething to soothe a child’s teething pain is a practice that’s been around for thousands of years. It’s the only 100% natural, drug free, proven way to reduce the pain of teething! PLEASE NOTE: Amber teething necklaces are made to wear but NOT to chew! Teething jewelry should be removed from the neck when child is sleeping or unattended! (Many people find it helpful to wrap the necklace around the child’s ankle and cover with a sock at bedtime.) How Do I Use Amber For Non-Teething Pain? Baltic amber works best when worn nearest to the site of pain. For example; If you have headaches, neck pain, or dental issues, we suggest wearing a necklace. If you suffer from arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome, a bracelet or ring is best.

Proper Use And Care Of Your Baltic Amber • The amber teething necklace is designed to be worn close to the skin in order to absorb the healing oils, NOT to chew or put in baby’s mouth! • Teething jewelry should be removed when child is sleeping or unattended! • The teething necklace may be worn as your baby starts teething or showing any signs of pain or discomfort from teething. • All amber jewelry should be removed for bathing and should also not be worn in chlorinated pools or spas. • Clean often with warm water and a soft cloth. Any film or buildup on the beads (from lotions, soaps, perfume, hairspray, etc.) can interfere with the release and/or absorbtion of succinic acid into the skin which lessens the effectiveness of the necklace. • Your Baltic Amber should be worn as often as possible (making sure that it stays in contact with your skin) - including bedtime! Fun Fossil Facts for Kids Fun Facts About Fossils for Kids Without fossils, we wouldnât know about dinosaurs. Some fossils are of footprints or animal burrows, rather than the animals themselves. Fossilized poop is called coprolites.

Scientists have found coprolites from Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs that contain bits of crushed bones. Itâs pretty unusual to find a whole fossilized animal. Scientists usually find shells, bones and teeth instead. Scientists have found fossils of feathered dinosaurs. Sometimes animal and plant remains are preserved, but theyâre not turned to stone. Insects were stuck in sticky tree resin. The tree resin turned to amber over millions of years, but the insects are completely intact inside. Fun Science for Kids All About Fossils – an Example of a Footprint Fossil All about Fossils Fun Earth Science Facts for Kids – Image of Planorbis Snails Fossil Easy Geography for Kids All About Fossils – a Carcharodontosaurus and Megalodon Teeth Fossil Fossils Vocabulary Remains: dead animal or plant material Fossil: any animal or plant remains that has been preserved for more than 10,000 years Coprolite: fossilized poop

Question: What is fossilized tree resin called?
Answer: Amber