Chemical relationships of ambers using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
- Share
-
Tools
L. J. Cotton, F. Vollrath, M. D. Brasier, C. Dicko, 2017. "Chemical relationships of ambers using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy", Earth System Evolution and Early Life: A Celebration of the Work of Martin Brasier, A. T. Brasier, D. McIlroy, N. McLoughlin
Download citation file:
×
Abstract
Amber is known for its remarkably well-preserved fossils, but the chemical complexity of amber and its history are less well known. Amber is highly variable in both its physical and chemical properties, which are dependent on factors such as the source tree and the diagenetic history. Amber from a given locality therefore has a unique chemical composition. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is often used to determine the chemical composition of amber and to provide a fingerprint for amber samples. We used FTIR spectroscopy to analyse samples spanning the time period from the Early Cretaceous to the Oligo-Miocene from 17 localities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. We then used cluster analysis to examine the trends in amber chemistry and to increase our understanding of its formation through time. A detailed analysis of the clustering followed by modelling of the variables of importance suggested that the exocyclic methylene group content and conformation play a major part in explaining the clustering. Other variables, such as the ester and alkyl contents, contribute to identification. Placed in a broader perspective, our study indicates that the dominant factor in clustering is the age of the amber, followed by the locality.
Supplementary material: Detailed sample list and combined spectra of all samples are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3704920
Figures & Tables
Contents
Earth System Evolution and Early Life: A Celebration of the Work of Martin Brasier

This volume in memory of Professor Martin Brasier, which has many of his unfinished works, summarizes recent progress in some of the hottest topics in palaeobiology including cellular preservation of early microbial life and early evolution of macroscopic animal life, encompassing the Ediacara biota. The papers focus on how to decipher evidence for early life, which requires exceptional preservation, employment of state-of-the-art techniques and also an understanding gleaned from Phanerozoic lagerstätte and modern analogues. The papers also apply Martin’s MOFAOTYOF principle (my oldest fossils are older than your oldest fossils), requiring an integrated approach to understanding fossils. The adoption of the null-hypothesis that all putative traces of life are abiotic until proven otherwise, and the consideration of putative fossils within their spatial context, characterized the work of Martin Brasier, as is well demonstrated by the papers in this volume.