Baltic Amber the fascinating world of the eocene

Amber is fossilized resin, so called Liptobiolithes (greek leiptos, latin liptus: leave over, greek bios: life, greek lithos: stone)which have pertained through geological ages on account of of poor solubility and durity. Baltic Amber is found in an area around the Eastern Sea and is hauled in large quantities from the so-called "Blue Soil". Most of the raw amber is used up in the chemical industry, a smaller part for jewellery. The "Blue Soil" is not the origin of the amber, but the Amber forests that were covering wide parts of Scandinavia approximately 55 million years ago. Till today it is not quite clear which type of tree secreted the resin that formed the amber.

"Bernsteinwald-Gebiete": area of ancient forests that produced the Baltic Amber

After the resin dropped onto the floor of the forest, it was acrried away by water to form the sediments of the "Blue Soil". This secondary place of deposition is estimated 35 million years of age. The Amber-forests are estimated to have existed for about 20 million years, which explains the immense quantities of amber that are still hauled.

Eichenhaare= Oaktree-blossom hair (Fotos) is the characteristic of Baltic Amber

Amber has a low density of 1,05-1,09 g/cm, this is the reason why it easily floats. It is not very hard (2-3 Mohs), and easy to cut and polish. Pieces of clear honey-color only formed under the influence of sunlight. Pieces that are not translucent are characteristic for resin that formed inside the trunk of the trees. Pieces with animal- or plant inclusions are very rare. When the resin was still fresh, it was sticky. So insects that accidently flew onto the resin or got blown onto fresh resin by the wind would get covered and fossilized.