Biodiversity: Amber provides a unique window into past organisms and ecosystems

Biodiversity: Amber provides a unique window into past organisms and ecosystems
By Dane McDonald

..."Amber is the fossilized form of tree resin and has properties similar to amorphous (a solid that is not crystalline; Oxford dictionary of science, 2003) polymeric glass. The fossilization of amber occurs due to polymerization (i.e. cross-linking of organic compounds with hydrogen bonds) of the tree resin, which consists of a complex mixture of terpenoid and/or phenolic compounds"... see more