麻豆淫院

The Field Museum in Chicago and the Foundation for Scientific Advancement reported that sediment-encased maturation of pine resin produces a hardened, translucent substance that closely mimics natural copal and amber in appearance, texture, and chemical signature.

Amber and copal are fossilized tree resins prized for preserving delicate plant and animal remains for millions of years, offering researchers unique glimpses into the past. Destructive chemical analysis is avoided because amber and copal inclusions are exceptionally rare, and any sampling would irreversibly damage these unique specimens.

Creating a laboratory-made resin analog would provide a material that can be sacrificed for destructive testing. By first using the synthetic analog to develop and validate chemical analysis methods, researchers can learn which tests are most effective and what results to expect.

Previous research has described fossil resin formations as products of volatile compound loss and polymerization of resin constituents, yet laboratory methods have lacked the ability to replicate these processes under realistic burial conditions.

For the study, "Experimental maturation of pine resin in sediment to investigate the formation of synthetic copal and amber," in Scientific Reports, scientists heated and pressurized fresh pine resin encased in clay in an attempt to transform it, mimicking and accelerating the chemical processes resins might naturally experience on their way to becoming copal and amber.

Resin was gathered from one Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo) and two Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris) at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Samples were compacted in bentonite clay tablets under pressures ranging from 159 to 241 bar and heated at temperatures between 130掳C and 150掳C for intervals between 19 and 41 hours.

Digital light microscopy revealed that matured resin transitioned from an opaque, pale off-white material to brittle, translucent masses with yellow-orange-brown coloration. Microscopic examination identified conchoidal fracturing, flow lines, birefringence under cross-polarized light, and internal air pockets.

Infrared spectroscopy showed chemical changes in the resin, including a reduced carbonyl (C=O) signal at 1700 cm鈦宦�. This pattern is also seen in natural copal and Eocene Baltic amber, suggesting that the experimental resin underwent similar chemical aging. These spectral changes align with the loss of volatile terpenoids and potential polymerization or cross-linking of remaining diterpenoid compounds.

Results demonstrate that the lab conditions drove the loss of volatile and labile components into the surrounding sediment, while preserving and chemically altering stable resin components. The experiment produced a hardened, translucent material from the moist, sticky, and sometimes fragrant tree resins.

While the resulting resin exhibits features typical of copal and amber, it may not be chemically identical, particularly regarding polymerization. Future experiments will refine temperature and pressure parameters and explore resin sources from taxa known for polymerizable diterpenoids to achieve closer fidelity to naturally occurring amber.