BLUE AMBER ROUGH

BLUE AMBER ROUGH

A beautiful Blue Amber Rough specimen. This is a truly amazing material, indoors it has a translucent golden red hue. Under long wave UVA light it fluoresces electric blue (photo with the black background). Being Amber, or fossilised tree gum, it is extremely light for its size. The ethereal look and feel of this stuff make it a compelling addition to the collection. This piece would be suitable for cutting into a magical looking gem too. Bet you can’t put it down! A great gift or treat for the collector of the unusual.

Location:
Jambi Coal Mines, Central Sumatra, Indonesia.

Dimensions:
8.8cm x 3cm x 3.7cm, 39g.

Succinic acid
Approximately C10H16O

The fossils that are encased in amber probably got there when they flew or crawled on to the fresh seeping sap and then got stuck.  The sap oozed over the trapped animals and perhaps fell to the ground and was later covered by dirt and debris.  The sap later hardened and became a fossil.

MORE INFO

The fossils are mostly insects such as gnats, flies, wasps, bees and ants.  Occasionally more exotic insects are trapped in the amber such as grasshoppers, preying mantises, beetles, moths, termites, butterflies, etc.  Other non-insect animals are found in amber too such as spiders, centipedes, scorpions and even frogs and lizards.  No really large animals like mammals or birds are seen in amber but feathers and fur have been seen.  Invaluable plant remains have also been found in amber including flowers, mushroom caps, seeds, leaves, stems, pine needles and pine cones.  The rarity of the trapped fossils controls the value of the amber more so than the quality of the amber.  Remember these are fossils and are not the same species that are alive today.  Amber has greatly increased the knowledge of the evolution of insects and plants as well as enlivening the interest in paleontology in general.

Check out more Fluorescent Specimens here.