Re: Amber essence

[Tompaleo@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-01-10 19:52:25 EST, you write:

>We brought back some of the matrix from our dig in the Hell Creek Formation
>last summer, and I found a tiny fragment of amber in it. (about the size of
a
>ball tipped straight pin). It was far from hard, and crumbled to dust while
I
>was rolling it between my fingers. That's not surprising, but the scent of
>Western Cedar like they make shingles out of, sprang into the air.  A
>wonderful surprise to smell the essence of  a tree at least 65 million years
>old. Too d___ bad I couldn't save it. Has anyone else experienced this? The
>Cretaceous enviornment must have been a wonderful place. (Even without the
>dinos).

Hardly a silly post! 
I have not heard of brittle amber before but from what I have been told,
 that "piney smell"  is diagnostic of many amber specimens. I think  Copal
also tends to yield an odor but I believe it is softer than amber is.
Interestingly, I have about a dozen small (~2mm) globules of amber from the
Early Cretaceous Arundel Clay and found not far from a "log jam" of
lignitized conifer stems and logs. Unfortunately, they have no obvious odor
though I might subject _one_ spherule to acetone  to be 100 percent certain.
 I'm hesitant to do so because  to my knowledge, amber has not been reported
from the Arundel of Maryland although Gil Brenner has found some in the
slightly younger Raritan (Late Cretaceous) formation of New Jersey.
It is tempting though ;-)

Regards,
Thomas R. Lipka
Paleontological/Geological Studies