Physical Properties of Amber

A mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite chemical composition and ordered crystalline structure. It is usually of an inorganic origin. Amber is not a mineral, because it has an organic origin and amorphous structure (no orderly internal arrangement of atoms). Find out more about amber's physical properties below. Information is available on a young resinous material, that is often times confused with amber, called copal. Copal resembles amber but is not a mineral either.

Composition: can vary greatly depending on the botanical source, though all have terpenes or compounds that are linked as the resin matures. It is thought that Baltic amber, or succinite, contains 3-8% succinic acid (succus is Latin for juice); succinic acid is believed to form from microorganism-induced fermentation of the cellulose contained in the resin. One composition of an amber variety is: oxygenated hydrocarbon (carbon 67-87%, hydrogen 8.5-11%, oxygen 15%, sulfur 0-0.46%). Although this composition was believed to be the hardened tree resin from the genus Pinus, chemical studies show these pines were not the source of Baltic amber.
Dr. Curt W. Beck (1998) summarized the literature on the chemistry of amber at the World Amber Congress. He related Pliny's belief that amber was a liquid seeping from pine, hardened by frost, heat, and the sea. In the 16th century, Agricola also believed amber to be the juice of a pine tree and used the term succinum. Although botanists have described the Baltic amber tree as Pinites succinifer or from the genus Pinus, based on cones and needles found entombed amber, the chemists have isolated compounds in succinite that occur in other sources than ordinary pines. In the 19th century Germans, Swedes, and Swiss chemists recognized succinic acid and borneol, among other compounds, in amber. Only recently though, has decisive work on resin constituents been accomplished with a combination of mass spectroscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatography. Chemical analysis of succinite has concluded a "labdanoid character" for this fossil resin, based on work by Ken Anderson and others; this analysis eliminates the botanical source of the genus Pinus for Baltic amber (Beck, 1998, p. 57). Dr. Beck and Dr. Francis Heuber (personal communication, 1998) believe the botanical source for succinite to be araucarian in origin. Although the tree does not exist today, it is related to Agathis australis or the huge kauri pine tree found in New Zealand.
Color: varying shades of yellow, orange, red, white, brown, green, bluish, "black" (deep shades of other colors). Rainbow colors within the amber are caused by the light interference of air bubbles or strain created during an insect's death struggle. Some believe the color is related to the type of tree source. Recent pine trees produce golden yellows, white, ivory-colors, and occasionally a blue resin. Scientists at the Polish Museum of Science believe that reddish tints are the resin of deciduous trees, such as cherry and plum. Dominican amber with a reddish tint is thought to be related to a leguminous source.
Amber color preferences vary from country to country. The transparent reds and greens are thought to be the most desirable colors in some countries, followed by the transparent yellows. The warm, transparent, orange color seems to be a desirable color for many Americans. Natural amber, regardless of color, may darken to a mellow brown after long exposure to air; pressed amber may turn white as it ages.
More information on amber colors is found at Gintaro Galerija Muziejus and at Dragonfly Amber.com, which includes an amber color chart.
Classification & Structure: organic & amorphous.
Transparency: all graduations from perfectly clear to wholly opaque, with cloudy turbidity due to the presence of numerous air bubbles and inclusions. The air in amber is the subject of study also! See Air bubbles, amber, and dinosaurs by Gary Landis and Dinosaur breath by John G. Cramer.
Hardness: 1-3. Burmese amber, or amber from Myanmar, is the hardest at 3 on the hardness scale; Baltic amber is usually in the range of 2-2.5; Dominican amber is the softest at 1-2. Geologically younger amber tends to be softer than amber that has been buried for a long time.
Tenacity & Fracture: tough to brittle, conchoidal fracture. For its low hardness, amber is remarkably tougher than most gemstones of a similar hardness. Baltic amber tends to be tougher than retinite amber; Dominican amber tends to be more brittle and break more easily than other ambers.
Luster: resinous.
Specific Gravity: 1.05-1.2 (is buoyant, staying afloat in water saturated with salt or sea water). The clearest or transparent ambers are more dense, whereas amber varieties containing numerous air bubbles and are less dense.
Fluorescence: some pieces fluoresce. The common fluorescent colors of amber are blue or yellow, and less frequently a green, orange, or white. In general, resins with higer sulfur content fluoresce more than those containing less sulfur.
Fluorescent amber may be viewed at this external link, Ken's Fluorescent Minerals.

For more information regarding amber's physical properties, visit:

Andzia's Amber Reading Room, http://www.amberjewelry.com/Amber_Reading_Room_p1.htm
Jewelry Central on Amber, http://www.jewelrycentral.com/Target_Amber.html
Mineral Galleries on Amber, http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/Mineralo/amber/amber.htm
Gemstone Course GO 340 Amber lecture, http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go340/ambers.htm
Ecole Des Mines, Ambre at http://www.musee.ensmp.fr/gm/897.html
Ambre from All Minerals of the World, http://cri.ensmp.fr/euromin/mineraux/AMBRE.html.
Amber from Athena Mineralogy, http://un2sg4.unige.ch/athena/cgi-bin/minfich?s=AMBER
R. V. Dietrich's http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/dietr1rv/amber.htm
John Miller's Gemology, http://www.tradeshop.com/gems/index.shtml

Connecting Menu:

Ken's Fluorescent Minerals is at http://www.users.interport.net/~kenx/
Air bubbles, amber, and dinosaurs by Gary Landis, http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/gips/na/0amber.htm, is a chapter in Understanding Our Planet Through Chemistry, http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/gips/na/aii-indx.htm
Dinosaur breath by John G. Cramer, http://mist.npl.washington.edu/av/altvw27.html, is an article within Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, http://mist.npl.washington.edu/AV/av_index.html.
Jewelry Central on amber, http://www.jewelrycentral.com/Target_Amber.html
Mineral Galleries on amber, http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/Mineralo/amber/amber.htm
Gemstone GO 340 Amber lecture, an online Gemstones and Gemology course http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go340/ offered from Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas USA.
Ambre is found within the Musee de mineralogie, Ecole des mines de Paris
Ambre is a page under All Minerals of the World
Amber is from Athena Mineralogy University of Geneve, Switzerland
R.V. Dietrich on amber, http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/dietr1rv/amber.htm is from GemRocks: Ornamental and Curio Stones, http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/dietr1rv/Default.htm.
The gemology page, http://www.tradeshop.com/gems/index.shtml is an external link from Tradeshop Inc., http://www.tradeshop.com/index.shtml
Amber Color, http://www.ambergallery.lt/english/muziejus-spalvos.htm, is from the Mizgiriai family, http://www.ambergallery.lt/english/apie_mus.htm, Gintaro Galerija Muziejus.
Amber Color, http://www.dragonflyamber.com/choosing_amber/ , is from Dragonfly Amber, http://www.dragonflyamber.com/.

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