Amber: God's Snapshot of the Past

     This might come off as a bit surprising, but amber is not a mineral! Amber is not a rock either. What is it then? Amber is actually hardened tree-sap or resin. If you can remember that song Modern Major General, and the line, “I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,” amber would fall under the "vegetable" category. If you wonder why it is that I have chosen to write about a substance that is neither rock, nor mineral the answer is that there are a few reasons. Amber is somewhat like a mineral, it is used as a gemstone, and it is technically considered a fossil, the third topic of the blog.
     Amber is formed by some chemical processes that take place within resin as it hardens. These are somewhat complex and I don’t plan to talk about them here. Amber has no crystal structure, but rather forms as amorphous blobs. Amber is often a honey brown color (this color is also called "amber"), but it can also be yellow, orange, red, brown, blackish-brown, clear, white, and even blue or green! Amber can either be translucent or opaque; the translucent variety resembles glass and the opaque variety resembles plastic. Cracks that occur in amber can cause what is known as spangling, which looks like paper-thin saucers trapped inside of the amber (you can see this in the picture) Amber is also famous for its insect inclusions, which are caused by insects becoming trapped in the resin while it was still a sticky gel. Other inclusions that were formed the same way have been found, however, such as: wood fragments, pollen, seeds, leaves, flowers, spiders, scorpions, bird feathers, and small lizards!
     Amber has been used as a gemstone for thousands of years. The Romans, Ancient Greeks, Ancient Chinese, Vikings, and the Slavs of ancient Poland all used amber to make jewelry. Today amber is still used for this purpose. Amber is used to make beads, pendant carvings, or simply polished in its natural shape. Amber is often polished in a way that allows you to see the inclusions within it. Another way that amber is used as a gem is to make what is known as ambroid. Ambroid is made by heating and compressing small pieces of amber until they stick together to make one large piece. Low-grade amber is used in industry to make certain varnishes and lacquers.
     Amber is found all over the world, but large deposits of amber are sparsely distributed. One of the most famous sources of amber is the coast of the Baltic Sea. Amber can be found along the sea in places such as Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, and Germany. Since amber floats on salt water, Baltic amber has drifted to places as far from its original source as the Netherlands, and even the island of Britain. Other sources of amber include: the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain, Romania, and Canada.
     Of all the things that are known of amber, I am willing to bet that the inclusions that it boasts are the most famous. It is for this reason that I call amber God’s snapshot of the past.