But this fossilized tree resin that lapidary artists find so intriguing also often ensnared paleontological treasures such as insects, plant debris, and other bits of ancient life. The unique properties of amber preserve such specimens in exquisite three-dimensional detail.
The nation of Myanmar holds a true treasure trove in the form of 100-million-year-old amber (in other words, amber from the Age of Dinosaurs). For instance, in recent years 1,200 species of ancient life forms new to science have been formally described in the scientific literature from pieces of amber recovered from Myanmar. Most scientists suspect this just scratches the surface.
As if to prove that point, per a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Myanmar amber deposits have recently chalked up one more treasure: the earliest flower-pollinating insect. The bug in question is a beetle that has been named Angimordella burmitina. It was discovered with bits of pollen covering its thorax, abdomen, and legs.
The discovery pushes back the known pollination of flowers via insects by some 50 million years. A real treasure, indeed!
A VIRTUAL SHOWER OF METEOR SHOWERS
This story is from the February 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the February 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.