Amber is a mixture of organic compounds formed by the resin of coniferous plants from Mesozoic Cretaceous to Cenozoic Tertiary. In layman's terms, its ancestors were pine trees. The formation of amber generally has three stages. In the first stage, cypress secretes resin. In the second stage, the resin fell off and was buried in forest soil, during which fossilization occurred. Under this action, the composition, structure and characteristics of fossil resin changed strongly. The third stage is that the petrochemical resin is washed, transported and precipitated, and the amber is formed by diagenesis. Amber is an organic substance composed of C, H and O, and also contains trace elements such as Al, Mg, Fe and Mn. Amber has various shapes, such as kidney, tuberculosis, tumor, disk and so on. Hooper is very soft, with a hardness of 2-2.5 and a relatively light weight, with a relative specific gravity of 1.05- 1.09. The resin is shiny and transparent to translucent. Amber has many colors, such as gold, yellow to brown, light red, orange red and black, while blue, light green and lavender are rare. When amber is heated to 150℃, it becomes soft and begins to decompose. When heated to 250℃, it will melt, producing white steam and emitting a loose fragrance. ? The most abundant and meaningful inclusions in amber are plant inclusions, such as umbrella pine, seeds, fruits and leaves. There are also animal inclusions, such as beetles, flies, mosquitoes, ants, wasps and so on. There are gas-liquid two-phase inclusions, such as circular and elliptical bubbles and liquids; Vortex lines are mostly distributed around insect inclusions, which are traces left by insects when they struggle; There are many impurities, such as soil, gravel and debris. These rich inclusions not only constitute beautiful patterns, but also provide the most direct evidence for the scientific research of the environment at that time. At present, scientists have successfully extracted the genetic code DNA of some organisms from the fossils contained in amber, which has had a great impact on the study of biological evolution. The story of Jurassic Park, an American science fiction film, tells that scientists extracted DNA from a mosquito wrapped in amber, sucked the blood of dinosaurs, and then used genetic engineering to breed dinosaurs. Finally, dinosaurs became disasters. ? Amber is loved by the West and Arabs because of its low density, light weight, uniform color and crystal clear. If there are complete animal contents in it and there are signs of struggle, it will be loved as a treasure. People give this kind of amber the praise of "giving off crystal light and containing life". At present, the world's largest amber, weighing 15.25 kg, is called "Burmese amber", but it was actually bought by john charles Baoning in Guangdong, China at a price of 300 pounds on 1860, and now it is collected in the London History Museum. It was also recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Amber is the product of fossilization of conifer secretions (resin and rosin) tens of millions of years ago. Also known as "resin fossil" or "resin fossil". I. Cultural Appreciation The oldest story about the formation of amber originated from Greek mythology and was later written into Metamorphosis by the Roman poet Ovid. It says that Phaetonde's sister turned into black poplar, and the tears of black poplar turned into amber. Therefore, the theme of the amber exhibition is "Tears of God". Indigenous people in southern Mexico call amber a "sun stone" because it has magic power. Women there still wear amber bracelets for their babies, thinking it is a lucky thing to ward off evil spirits. Some views are more imaginative, thinking that amber is solidified by fragments of the sun. When the sun sinks into the sea, the hot sun will quench some fragments like hot iron blocks in water, and a few fragments of the sun will also quench, solidify in the sea and drift with the water. Early amber was mostly owned by nobles, and the amber worn by Martha Washington, the first lady of the United States, is still on display in the National Museum of American History. Amber, also known as "the spirit of amber" in ancient China, is thought to be transformed from the soul of a tiger. Tiger is the king of beasts, so amber has a lofty position in the minds of the ancients, thinking that it has the functions of suppressing evil spirits, eliminating evil spirits and reducing evil spirits, and is widely used as a talisman. People often hang amber on children's chests to cheer them up, and hope that children will be as strong and brave as tigers when they grow up. It is also popular in Taiwan Province Province and Hongkong that "Amber has the function of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil, cultivating self-cultivation". Amber has subtle color, warm texture and unparalleled affinity. Touching it gives people a peaceful and quiet spiritual feeling. In addition to these aesthetic feelings, amber is a kind of "just visiting" leading to the ancient mysterious world. Imagine that in the prehistoric endless virgin forest, the resin secreted by trees will accidentally freeze insects, plant fragments, pollen, air and water in a golden and transparent "grave". After thousands of years of dust, it provides important clues for scientists to reproduce the scenes of ancient nature. Therefore, some people regard amber as "an eternal moment, the solidification of history." Wei Zeng, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem praising insect amber: "It was once an old poria cocos, and it was a cold pine liquid, in which gnats fell, which was still considerable for thousands of years." Influenced by the movie Jurassic Park, people once bought amber containing insects enthusiastically, and the amber trade reached its climax in the mid-1990s. Known as the eighth wonder of the world, the Amber Palace was built in 1702, which took 12 years to complete. The amber used was collected from the Baltic Sea and built by Danish architects for King William I of Prussia, covering an area of 55 square meters. Later, the Amber Palace was presented to Russian Tsar Peter I as a gift. According to people who have been there, "The sun shines into the palace room through the glass, which is resplendent and magnificent, accompanied by a faint fragrance of turpentine, as if in a fairyland." Amber is not only used for decoration, but also a precious Chinese medicine. "Shennong Herbal Classic" records: "Amber is non-toxic, sweet and flat, soothing the five internal organs and calming the soul". Traditional Chinese medicine is used to treat astringent pain, hematuria, palpitation and insomnia. Second, the gemological properties of amber Amber is an organic compound composed of C, H and O. Its main components are succinic acid and succinic rosin acid, and other contents are amber oil and H2S. Amber is amorphous, usually in the form of nodules, nodules and water droplets, which are produced in coal seams and other sedimentary rocks. The hardness of Baltic amber weighing 8.8 kg is only 2-2.5. The refractive index is 1.54. The specific gravity is about 1.08, and it can be suspended in saturated salt water, making it the lightest gemstone known. The colors are yellow honey, yellow brown, light red brown and light green brown. It has typical resin luster, transparent-semitransparent, poor toughness and easy to break when impacted by external force. Amber is a good insulator, and triboelectrification is obvious. Amber has poor thermal conductivity, so it will feel warm when touched with lips. When heated to 150℃, it begins to soften and decompose, and melts at 250℃, producing white steam and emitting loose fragrance. In view of this feature, amber is often used as a hygienic incense, and Germans call amber "burning stone". According to legend, Zhao, the empress of Emperor Han Cheng, had an amber pillow for inhaling fragrance when sleeping. Amber is easily soluble in H2SO4 and hot HNO3, and partially soluble in alcohol, gasoline and ether. Exposed to the sun or placed in an excessively dry environment, the surface of amber will crack due to dehydration. 3. Amber variety 1. Blood amber: red as blood, transparent. 2. Jin Po: golden yellow, bright yellow and transparent. 3. Amber: yellow-red, reddish and transparent. 4. Beeswax: brownish yellow, golden yellow, translucent and waxy. 5. Gold powder honey: transparent Jin Po and translucent beeswax are intertwined. 6. Xiangpo: Amber with fragrance. 7. Insect amber: amber containing animal remains. Four. The quality evaluation of amber should be carried out from four aspects: 1. Color: Strong colors are the best, and the highest values are red and green. 2. Fragmentation: Generally, a certain degree of fragmentation is required, and the bigger the better. 3. Transparency: clean and crack-free. The more transparent, the better. Crystal clear is top grade, translucent to slightly transparent is inferior. 4. Wraps: Amber can contain a variety of animal and plant wraps, among which insects are the best. According to the completeness, clarity, size and quantity of insects, the value of insects is determined. V. Origin of Amber There are many origins of amber. Europe mainly includes Poland, Germany, Denmark, Russia and other Baltic countries, and 80% of amber sold in the international market is produced in the Baltic Sea. Among them, Sammland is the largest amber mine in the world. High-quality amber is also produced in Dominican waters, and 0/0% of amber sold in the international market comes from here. But Denmark was the first country to discover amber. At present, it has been exported to Romania, Czech Republic, Sicily, Norway, Britain, New Zealand, Lebanon, the United States, Myanmar, Canada, Chile and China. Amber in China is mainly produced in Fushun coalfield, and there are a lot of high-quality insects. In addition, amber is also produced in Henan, Yunnan and Fujian. 6. Maintenance of Amber Amber is an organic gem like a pearl. Volatile and corrosive substances are bad for it. Ordinary jewelry cleaning solution is not suitable for amber. When maintaining amber, wash it with warm water. After absorbing water with a soft cloth, gently wipe it with a little olive oil to restore the luster of amber. In addition, due to the small hardness of amber, it should be avoided to be worn by hard objects. 7. Optimization and imitation of amber 1. Heat treatment: The purpose is to increase the transparency of amber and heat amber in the form of clouds, because it contains a lot of bubbles in vegetable oil. It is characterized by frequent cracks like "sunshine" and "water lily leaves". 2. Reproduction of amber: The method is to crush amber to a certain particle size, remove impurities by gravity flotation, and press it at a pressure of 2.5× 106Pb and a temperature of 200-230 degrees Celsius. Its remarkable characteristics are as follows: a. It has a syrup-like stirring structure. B. you can see the granular structure by magnifying observation. C bubbles are arranged in a flat and elongated direction or contain unmelted substances. D emits bright chalky blue fluorescence under short-wave ultraviolet light instead of light white, light blue or light yellow fluorescence. 3. Dyeing treatment: Natural amber will turn red after being exposed to the air for several years, so the purpose of dyeing is to imitate the old. Its characteristic is that red is concentrated in cracks. 4. Characteristics of plastic imitation amber: A. Except polystyrene, all plastic imitations are immersed in saturated salt water. B. Plastic is cuttable and will peel off, while amber will collapse because it is fragile. C. Amber has a pine scent, while the smell of plastic varies with varieties. D. Plastic and amber have different refractive indexes. Human society has long been interested in natural amber. British archaeologists found amber in ancient tombs more than 65438+2000 years ago. Archaeologists can find traces of amber products in Baltic countries. The ancient Egyptians also went north to the Baltic Sea for amber exploration. About BC 1600, the amber trade route extended to ancient Greece. Natural amber absorbs sunlight and rain when it is formed. Compared with other fossils, it can completely and clearly wrap all kinds of ecological circles. Through it, we can feel the world tens of millions of years ago. The formation of natural amber can be simply divided into three parts: resin->; copal fat->； The resin secreted by amber from trees has a strong fragrance. It is liquid and can flow. A drop of resin becomes a polymer. This polymer gradually hardens to form coba fat; The dead copa resin of trees was buried in soil and sediments, and lost its volatility. After a long period of time, it was petrified to form amber. Many scientists believe that the most important factor of amber formation is time, and the process of fossilization takes at least 2 million years to100000 years. But now science has proved that the formation of amber has a lot to do with the surrounding environment and the sediments in which they are located. Chronologically: British Isle of Wight amber scientists are interested in Isle of Wight amber because of its age. It comes from the Mesozoic Cretaceous period1.300 million years ago. Their main color is brown, with a transparent yellow vortex, and contains many plant fragments and pyrite crystals. Amber was also found in Musdas and Sussex in England for a longer time, about 65.438+0.4 billion years ago, but no insects were found in it. Lebanese amber Lebanese amber is mainly yellow, and they contain many cracks, which makes amber very fragile. Similar amber has been found in the Middle East, Israel and Jordan. Insects found in Lebanese amber are also of great significance, because they came from the late Mesozoic Cretaceous period 1 100 million years ago. This fragile amber, which produces little, has almost no jewelry value. Burmese amber Burmese amber is mainly dark orange or dark red. Amber blocks contain plant fragments. Most of them were mined in the middle abyss of Hukawang Valley in northern Myanmar in the early 20th century. According to the scientific examination of underwater microfossils and extinct insect species of amber polymerization in Myanmar, its age is about 60 million years to 65.438+0.2 billion years. The picture shows the world's largest natural transparent amber, which is kept in the Natural History Museum. Amber in Sicily, Italy The amber in Sicily is mostly orange or red. But there will be green, blue and black. Generally speaking, beeswax is relatively rare and transparent. After polishing, their surfaces are very dazzling. The age is about 60-90 million years.