Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'fossil resin'.
-
Rovno Amber (Mezhigorje Fm., 33.9-28.1 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
83.8g raw amber mined from the Rivne region in Ukraine. It displays a unique "face" when viewed from one side.© Kaegen Lau
-
Rovno Amber (Mezhigorje Fm., 33.9-28.1 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
83.8g raw amber mined from the Rivne region in Ukraine. It displays a unique "face" when viewed from one side.© Kaegen Lau
-
Rovno Amber (Mezhigorje Fm., 33.9-28.1 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
121g specimen of raw amber from the Rivne region of the Rivne Oblast, Ukraine.© Kaegen Lau
-
Rovno Amber (Mezhigorje Fm., 33.9-28.1 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
43.7g rovno amber from the Klesiv deposit, Ukraine. The thick, oxidized crust (≈2mm) is typical of material from this specific area; when backlit, it appears a deep cherry-red, but this is only due to the oxidized layer.© Kaegen Lau
-
Baltic Amber (Prüsai Fm., ~37-34 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Finished specimen from previous entry; weight is 8.1 grams.© Kaegen Lau
-
Dominican Amber (La Toca Fm., 20.43-13.65 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Weighing about 5 grams, a small piece of Dominican amber with the red, oxidized "skin" still intact on three sides of the piece.© Kaegen Lau
-
Chiapas Amber (La Quinta Fm./Mazantic Shale, ~22.8-15 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
320g raw amber from Chiapas, MX. Mined on 9/3/2020. It is actually one specimen, but it arrived damaged through shipping.© Kaegen Lau
-
Baltic Amber (Prüsai Fm., ~37-34 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Raw amber from Vilnius, Lithuania. Weight is 8.7 grams.© Kaegen Lau
-
Baltic Amber (Prüsai Fm., ~37-34 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Two fine pieces from the previous entry; each weigh about 1 gram each.© Kaegen Lau
-
Baltic amber (Prüsai Fm., ~37-34 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Personally hand-polished specimens of amber that came from the same lot as the previous entry.© Kaegen Lau
-
Baltic Amber (Prüsai Fm., ~37-34 Ma)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
Small, roughly 1 gram pieces of raw amber from Szczecin, Poland.© Kaegen Lau
-
I have been doing some recent work with Columbian Amber/Copal and thought I would throw this out for a general discussion. It is fun, if nothing else Most of my life I have believed that there is no difference between Copal and Amber. I know chemically there is no difference between the two. Amber/Copal from the same plant from different time periods, even millions of years apart are identical. Fossil resin's molecular make-up is mostly carbon and hydrogen atoms that form hexagonal rings. Molecular bonding between the rings increases over time (called polymerization, as in modern epoxy resins), and the tacky resin becomes hard. For all practical purposes, the hardened resin is a "plastic". Exactly when the resin becomes amber/copal, or a fossil, is not definable by any scientific criteria. I would like to see if others have the same thoughts. I am also attaching a picture of the best piece in my collection. "Best" meaning my favorite. This is one of my favorite articles. The following is by Dr. Robert E. Woodruff Emeritus Taxonomist, Florida State Collection of Arthropods Resins are produced by many trees and other plants; Frankincense of the Bible is one of these. Peach and Cherry trees produce resins that children often use as chewing gum. No botanist or paleontologist knows when resins were first produced, but we know it was probably more than 100 million years ago. They are produced to heal wounds, just as our blood coagulates to seal injuries. There is no doubt that these resins have been produced continuously since they first occured. Because they are affected little by the elements, resins are similar to their original form. Only a few volatile oils are eliminated by time and burial (e.g., in marine sediments that are 3000 ft. elevation now). We use Canadian Balsam as the most permanent sealant for cover slips on microscope slides. Unfortunately, no one can presently date these resins by any definitive tests. Because they have been continuously produced, there are no drastic changes from one geological period to another. We can infer age, if we know the age of a sedimentary deposit in which they are found (this would be a minimum, because older material could have been redeposited). There are those (including several scientists) that insist that the word amber must be reserved for certain age resins. With such a continuous resin production, and no clear dating, it could all be called amber. It is a semantic argument, & those who sell Baltic, Dominican, & Mexican "amber" do not want to use the term for any that might be more recent. Obviously a commercial bias is present. They prefer to use the term "copal". Strictly speaking, the Aztec word "copal" is used for all resins! They do not distinguish the Miocene deposits from southern Mexico from the recent resin collected for incense today. Therefore it should not be redefined to fit some new arbitrary definition based on age. It is considered lower class only because of these commercial interests. We have Cretaceous amber (at least 65 million years old) and much Oligocene & Miocene amber, as well as Pliocene (Africa), and many others. We have no dates or specific geological information on Colombian amber. Because of it's color and hardness, we believe it may be Pliocene or Pleistocene (as is some of the Dominican amber from Cotui). Studies underway may clarify the deposits, but evidence suggests that there may be varying geological formations & ages. Mankind (depending on the anthropologist's definition thereof) has been on earth only 3-5 million years. Certainly the Olduvai specimens are fossils (both men & animals) and extremely valuable for study of human evolution. If we assume the Colombian amber is this recent, it still has extremely important value for those studying the fossils. Studies of biodiversity, biogeography, ecology, and evolution, all benefit from the scientific description of these amber fossils. Age is relative, the old man said, but old is not necessarily better. To call the Colombian material anything other than amber is a misnomer! Logically, we should just call everything "resin", with qualifying adjectives of origin or geological formation. I doubt that this would be acceptable to most "amber" dealers!
-
Monster Amber Specimens Have Been Found!
Tennessees Pride posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
On the evening of september 16th. 2013, right @ dark, Amber fossil resin was discovered for the first time ever in Henderson county,TN. This discovery was made by myself. On the afternoon of september 20th. 2013, i discovered a specimen of Amber that my wildest dreams had never imagined! Hahhaaa....yea!!! It snatched away the previous state record sized specimen from the late (& great!) Professor Bruce Wade, like it wasn't even there! His record specimen was about a inch and a half in diameter, and it stood for 99 years until i came along on that fateful day! It is an honor for my name and accomplishments to even be mentioned in the same paragraph as mr. Wade's.....here's to you Bruce!!! The sept.20th. specimen has rough demensions of about 4in×3in×2in thick., and a lovely red color. It's exact weight is 149.2 grams, or 5.263 oz. Needless to say, i went straight awol crazy after finding that!.......so......the story doesn't end here! No sir!.....was struck down w/ the worst case of "Amber-Fever" the world has ever seen! (still haven't been able to shake it off) so there i was hunting in the middle of the pouring rain on the afternoon of nov. 22 nd. 2013 when the magic happened again. Found the largest Amber specimen i've ever seen in my life. It's about the size of a hamburger. (Robble-Robble! ). So, barely 2 months after breaking the state record, & before it could even be documented.....i broke my own record......here's to you Bruce Wade! Rest in peace Brother! These discoveries of mine i have for the most part been relatively secretive about. Since finding the wonderful objects, i have began to actively work with a prestigious University and two intellectuals that it is truely an honor to meet. I must for present remain somewhat secretive about sites/locations/time periods/ stratigraphy/lithology......ect., ect. Because revealing that information will jeopardize their work, and i could never do that. If i like it or not,it is the way it has to be until all has been finished. This experience has taught me that patience is truely a virtue, good science doesn't happen overnight,but painfully takes an untold amount of months....but, it just has to be that way. But when all is finally completed, Henderson county and the great state of Tennessee can take pride in their true-blue "native son", and the wonderful things that lie right in their back yard. Praise YAHVEH!
-
Cretaceous Amber In Tennessee: An Open Report.
Tennessees Pride posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Today i have decided on an open policy regarding the Amber which is to be found here in Tennessee. I don't mean i'm about to just outright say where it's at, but intend on sharing with the world a report on what it is associated with, and a general area it is to be found. The motive behind this report is to publicly establish several special features about the outcrops i've discovered this Amber in. 1) That the Tennessee Amber site (s) are no doubt Lagerstatte quality 2) that the site (s) have a tremendous amount of associated botanicals just not found at other American sites as concentrated. 3) That the concentrations of Amber here are more than at other American sites. And 4) that this site (s) deserve to be appreciated and studied for what they are. A thought has ran through my mind today as i happened to glance over at a nice sample of material here in the corner of my house collecting dust. That sample was collected 7months and 1 day ago today. I have decided to use it as the basis of this small report. I have prepared an experiment to show step by step from opening up and revisiting this neglected stuff, to it's end and present what is there. This will take a few days to complete, so todays posts will be added to as progress is made. Within a week, i should be posting an end to this topic. Hope you all enjoy. Now lets start with the sample. It was wrapped up in plastic wrap after collection on Oct.19th, 2013. After a few wraps, i placed the paper in it and finished covering the specimen up. It's weight that day on my fruit scales was 8.25 pounds. Today i pulled it out and weighed again....8.25 pounds. (I love that plastic wrap, you won't catch me hunting without a roll on me somewhere.) For todays objective, i weighed it again, opened it up, and gently broke apart the matrix (very small lignitic debris). As this was going on i photographed some of the Amber insitu, to show exactly what i'm dealing with here. Tried my best not to look for Amber,cause i knew i'd be there all day picking it out if i ever started. What seemed more important today was not to destroy any lignitic objects which might be valuable in aiding to identify the source (there may or may not be some in there that could do that.) But i do already have good botanics with Amber in the stems, ect. I even have specimens from other locations of leaves connected to stems,and Amber in those!!!! So here we go, let's start the pictures up.... -
From the album: Most of my collection
Amber in Late Cretaceous wood, probable Seqouia species. Campanian. -
From the album: Most of my collection
Amber in Late Cretaceous wood, probable Seqouia species. Campanian. -
From the album: Most of my collection
For a description, reference the first photo of this specimen combined with a scale. -
From the album: Most of my collection
The begining prep of the second state record specimen. For a description, see the first photo of this specimen combined with a scale. -
From the album: Most of my collection
A pic of the beginning prep of the second state record specimen. For a description, see the first photo of this material combined with a scale. -
From the album: Most of my collection
On the afternoon of November 22nd 2013, in the middle of the pouring rain, i found this huge Amber specimen in a Late Cretaceous formation. Location unspecified. This is the current unofficial Tennessee state record. It broke the previous Amber state record which was also set by myself barely two months before finding this specimen. It's the size of a hamburger! The first state record was set by the late mr. Bruce Wade and stood for 99 years. I have been told this specimen is in the top 10 largest Amber specimens to ever be found in America. -
From the album: Most of my collection
For a description of this specimen, reference the first photo of this specimen combined with a scale. -
From the album: Most of my collection
For a description, reference the first photo of this specimen combined with a scale. -
From the album: Most of my collection
Another pic of Late Cretaceous Amber from the Sardis formation in Henderson county Tennessee. The largest specimen shown here is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. -
From the album: Most of my collection
To save from retyping the same words, see the first picture posted of this material combined with a scale.,there the description is noted. -
From the album: Most of my collection
On september 20th 2013 i found this huge Amber specimen at an unspecified location, it is also Late Cretaceous. There have been 3 state records for Amber, i hold 2 of them. The first was set by the late mr. Bruce Wade. That record was surpassed by this specimen 99 years later. This specimen almost doubled the previous record. I have been told it is in the top 10 largest Amber specimens that have ever been found in America.
