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Amber
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

Amber

  
Amber is named from the Arabic word anbar, which was converted to Spanish as ambar and later to amber.

Discovered in perhistory;   IMA status:  Not Approved

 

Chemistry

 

 

Chemical Formula:

C12H20O

 

Succinic Acid

Molecular Weight:

180.29 gm

Composition:

Hydrogen

11.18 %

H

99.92 %

H2O

 

Carbon

79.94 %

C

 

 

 

Oxygen

8.87 %

O

 

 

 

 

100.00 %

 

99.92 %

= TOTAL OXIDE

 

 

Classification

   

   

Mineral Classification:

Organic Compounds (Mineraloids)

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

9/C.01-10

 

9 : Organic Compounds
C : Resins and other compounds
01 : Bernstein series

Related to:

n/a

Members of Group:

n/a

Varieties:

Almashite, Ambrosine, Bacalite, Burmite, Delatynite, Duxite, Gedanite, Jaulingite, Jelinite, Kochenite, Munktenite, Muntenite, Plaffeite, Rosthornite

Synonyms:

Allingite, Ambar, Ambroid, Ambroite, Chryselectrum, Glessum, Glesum, Lyncurium, Lynx-stone, Succinite

 

 

Crystal Data

   

   

Crystallography:

Amorphous

Crystal Habit:

Amorphous. Nodular - Tuberose forms having irregular protuberances over the surface. Pulverulent - Forms a loose, poorly-coherent powdery mass.

Twinning:

None

 

 

Physical Properties

   

 

Cleavage:

None

Fracture:

Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

2.0 - 2.5

Density:

1.05 - 1.15 (g/cm3)

Luminescence:

Some specimens may be Fluorescent.

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

 

 

Optical Properties

   

   

Color:

Yellow, Colorless, Red, Brownish Red, Brown

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Resinous

Refractive Index:

1.54  Isotropic

Birefringence:

0.00  (Isotropic)

Dispersion:

n/a

Pleochroism:

n/a

 

 

Occurances

   

   

Geological Setting:

Nodules embedded in shales or sandstones and those that are washed up on beaches.

Common Associations:

n/a

Common Impurities:

Insects, spiders and their webs, annelids, frogs, crustaceans, bacteria, amoebae, marine microfossils, wood, leaves, pollen,flowers and fruit, hair, feathers and other small organisms

Type Locality:

Baltic Sea

Year Discovered:

Prehistoric

View mineral photos:

Amber Photos and Locations

 

 

More Information

   

   

 

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

 

 


Amber is a fossil resin that is a mixture of hydrocarbons, resins, succinic acid and oils. It is the fossilized resin of pine trees of the species Pinus succinifera from about 30 million years ago. In order to qualify as "amber" it is not sufficient for a tree resin merely to harden by losing its volatiles. The molecules have to polymerize, which can take millions of years, or at least 100,000 years. The oldest amber recovered dates to the Upper Carboniferous period, about
320 million years ago. After polymerization, amber becomes significantly less soluble in common organic solvents, and so will not become sticky if wetted with alcohol, acetone or gasoline. Much of the material marketed as "amber" (especially that from Colombia and Madagascar) is far too young to be considered amber, and is in reality just dried tree resin.

Amber is mostly seen as cabochons and is known for its inclusions of insects, pollen, leaves and other organic debris that were trapped in the sticky resin that oozed from pine trees millions of years ago. Faceted Amber is not rare, but is unusual.

Amber is found in many localities around the world. The most notable source may be the Baltic Sea where it washes up on shore from submerged beds. Other locations include Burma, Dominican Republic, Romania, Russia, coal seams in Wyoming, USA, and Venezuela.
 

  
Amber gems for sale:

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