Tragichrysa ovoruptora Lebanese amber fig2 a

Lebanese amber is

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

ized

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

found in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and southwest Syria. It dates back approximately 130-125 million years to the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is preceded ...

of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

. It formed on what was then the northern coast of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

, believed to be a tropical or subtropical zone in a temperate or hot climate. It is the oldest source of amber with a significant number of inclusions. Up to 300 sources of Lebanese amber have been recovered and 17 of them are important sources of organic inclusions, which are the oldest of their kind. The inclusions help to document

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

fauna and flora. Tyruschrysa melqart holotype Fig2

Origins

Lebanese amber can be found in Lebanon and neighboring areas of Syria and north Palestine. Up to 300 different sources of amber had been discovered by 2010. The amber was deposited in the Cretaceous era and is rich in fossil synclusions. 19 of the discovered sources are rich in inclusions from the Early Cretaceous. All of them are located in Lebanon, which makes it the largest source of inclusion from that period.

History

Aside from possible early reports of Phoenician usage, the oldest reports of Lebanese amber are from 19th-century accounts, these tended only to be incidental due to Lebanese amber's poor gemological quality in comparison to

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

, and the local people were more interested in the associated

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

as a source of fuel.

Properties

Lebanese amber can be found in a vast variety of colors such as yellow, orange, dark red or iridescent jet black. Rarely in white, milky or cream. The variation of color tone is caused by the air contained in the amber. The density of Lebanese amber is 1.054 g/cm3. It tends to be fragile and easy to damage.

Inclusions

Inclusions are quite common for Lebanese amber, which is rich in organisms of the Barremian epoch. Next to Jordanian amber, Lebanese amber is the oldest amber to have yielded significant invertebrate inclusions alongside the Wealden amber from the equivalently aged

Wessex Formation The Wessex Formation is a fossil-rich English geological formation that dates from the Berriasian to Barremian stages (about 145–125 million years ago) of the Early Cretaceous. It forms part of the Wealden Group and underlies the younger Vecti ...

of the UK, which is much less productive. Organisms preserved in Lebanese amber are dated back to the period prior to the

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

radiation, which was the period of massive extinction of old groups of arthropods, as well as the emergence of the new ones, some of which co-evolved with angiosperms. The organisms are preserved in good condition and shape. The diversity and number of co-inclusions help to draw conclusions about mutual relations and co-existence.George Poinar, Life in amber, Stanford University Press, 1992

References

{{reflist Amber Barremian Stage Barremian life Lower Cretaceous Series of Asia Paleontology in Lebanon