How is amber formed in nature?

The mineral, which outwardly resembles tree resin, has been of interest to researchers for many centuries. People of the prehistoric era knew amber. Pliny the elder, for example, believed that it was a petrified resin. Agricola supported the ancient philosopher, and even Lomonosov came to this conclusion. Centuries have passed. How modern scientists explain the origin of amber, we find out by looking into actual sources.

Approximately about 50 million years ago, even before the emergence of man on Earth, on the territory of what is now Sweden, part of the Baltic was dry land. And this is an important circumstance for understanding the processes of the origin of amber in nature.

The first step in the formation of a mineral is the release of the resin of coniferous trees. This was most likely due to a sharp warming of the climate. The pines were highly sensitive to climatic changes. When hurricanes and thunderstorms began, the pines gave off a special resin-oleoresin.

A thick and very sticky liquid led to the formation of nodules, drops, clots on the trunks, which, under the weight of their own weight, ended up on the ground. The bulk of the resin flowed out of the pine during the spring windbreaks. But even the rodents, who did not spare the pines, led to injury to the trees, and thickly flowing resin was taken to "heal" the wounds.

The process of release of resin could be completed and started again, which already led to multilayer accumulations of resin.... Insects could sit on the resin, they adhered to the sticky liquid, and remained there. Forever.

This is how the second stage of amber formation can be called. This process is due to physical and chemical changes. It was very important what specific conditions the resin would be in. If the soil was dry, then oxygen took an active part in the transformation of the resin: its resistance increased, and its hardness increased.

Further, there is a washout, transfer and deposition of resin into the water. The conditions that could become necessary for the formation of amber are associated with the hydrodynamics and geochemistry of the basin.

For amber to form in nature, special waters are needed - silt, oxygenated, and rich in potassium. When these waters come into contact with the resin, succinic acid and also esters of this acid appear in it. At the end of these complex processes, not only amber itself is formed, but also glauconite. And the definition of the latter led the researchers to the idea of ​​slightly alkaline and poorly reducing media.

These transformations led to the fact that the resin was significantly compacted, became not as soluble as initially, its viscosity and melting temperature indicators increased. Small molecules in the resin have become one macromolecule.

The climate in the northern part of Europe, where amber was formed millions of years ago, was similar to the current climatic conditions of the southern European part and the subtropics. The average annual temperature indicator did not fall below positive 18 degrees.

What else can be said about the climate in which amber is formed:

• not very high illumination of the forest, the light came up a little on the lower branches because of the upper closed crown;
• vegetation did not allow ultraviolet light to approach the ground;
• forest soils were sandy, covered with a layer of soft soil litter;
• the air is almost oversaturated with water vapor that rose from the wet ground.

In such a climate, everything was favorable for the development of lush vegetation. There is even such a concept - "amber forest"... It is a complex plant community that is difficult to characterize even with very detailed descriptions. According to some scientists, there were up to twenty species of pine trees alone.

After the climate became much more severe, the "amber forests" disappeared. Most of the territory they occupied went into the ocean. Only amber, a resin that has been incredibly petrified, has remained a witness to prehistoric times. Amber “remembers” the planet even before the appearance of man.

The hardness and melting point of amber is higher than that of the best copal varieties. It has been proven that the yellow-honey mineral is soluble in terpene and organic hydrocarbons. In its natural occurrence, amber can be found in the form of fragments of various sizes, which resemble the resinous secretions of conifers in shape.

The density of amber is almost equal to the density of seawater: in salt water the mineral floats up, and in fresh water it sinks. This circumstance explains the stability and indelibility of the stone, which undergoes repeated transfer, washing, reburial, and all this for tens of millions of years.

There are other physical properties of the mineral.

• On the flame of a candle, amber melts, and begins to boil at a temperature of 250-300 degrees. Heating makes the mineral smolder, burning with a smoky flame. The smell will be pleasant, resinous. By the way, this is the best way to distinguish genuine amber from a fake - heating a fake, of course, will not bring any resinous aroma.

• During friction, amber becomes electrified, attracts small objects, charges with static electricity. And another interesting historical fact is connected with this: the ancient philosopher Thales of Miletus discovered this property of amber. The researchers picked up the philosopher's discovery, saw blue sparks when rubbing a stone with wool, and called these sparks an electron. And electron, by the way, is the Greek name for amber.

• If you ask, what is the color of amber, the answer will be unambiguous - yellow... But experts have counted about two hundred color shades, enclosed in a fairly wide range of colors. Under the influence of the sun, amber will glow. The luster of the stone is glassy, ​​resinous, crusty and uneven.

• Air bubbles seen in amber include about 30% oxygen.

Bugs, mosquitoes, butterflies, lizards, leaves, flowers, pine cones and other organic remains preserved in amber make the mineral so unique and valuable for science. It turns out that this stone is not just beautiful, its formation is more interesting than its decorative sides.

It cannot be said that all amber deposits have been sufficiently explored. The Primorskoye field has detailed characteristics, which cannot be said about others.

There are primary and secondary deposits. The first are multifactorially related to the places of coal mining. The distribution of amber here cannot be called uniform. These are allochthonous deposits (they include Fushunskoye, Uglovskoye, Alaskinskoye). Secondary (placers) accumulations of stone are in some way distant from the places of initial occurrence. There are many types of such placers. The main place for the extraction of ornamental amber is the Baltic-Dnieper province (the emphasis is not on the Baltic Sea, but on the territory from the North Sea to the Black Sea with the capture of Denmark, Poland, and also Germany, Ukraine, Belarus).

The largest in the world is the Primorskoye field, which is not located in Kaliningrad itself, of course, but 40 km from it. This deposit has been known since the Paleolithic era.

Each deposit must be studied in detail, and today researchers are focusing on this. Amber is an excellent ornamental stone, so it makes sense to study the places where you can get it and make mining technologies more and more perfect.

The main area of ​​use is jewelry production. Mineral jewelry is very beautiful and certainly unusual. It is specially treated to give it shape, shine and shine. You can buy a small pendant made of amber, or you can buy chic beads, earrings, rings and bracelets. If the setting for the stone is precious, it will look great, but a simple metal is quite suitable, because the main thing in beads and earrings is the stone itself.

These are, indeed, valuable jewelry that make you the owner of a unique artifact.

The mineral is also used for souvenirs: figurines and caskets, watches and chess, pyramids are made from natural amber (or with its splashes). Amber plates, spoons and forks are made by hand. It is believed that this dish has detoxifying properties. Mainly they acquire it because of the beauty, the sunshine.

The stone is also used in medicine in the form of amber oil:

• in the treatment of injuries - sprains, bruises, for warming up muscles;
• for massage of different parts of the body (most often the vertebral sections);
• for rubbing with pneumonia, bronchitis, colds;
• for rubbing in diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

But amber powder is used in cosmetology. It has a healing effect on the dermis, removes pigmentation, rejuvenates. This powder, by the way, is used to make amber powder used for gum therapy.

Waste from stone processing often turns out to be a decor in paintings. Finally, there is such a masterpiece of art as the Amber Room, which is not in vain ranked among the wonders of the world.

Amber, its properties and origin is a topic that has not yet been exhausted, it is being studied by serious researchers, children and adults who are not indifferent to biology.

For information on how amber is mined, see the next video.