Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Does the gas content of amber reveal the composition of palaeoatmospheres?

  • Letter
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

WHAT does the gas content of amber indicate? It has been suggested that bubbles in amber preserve the composition of the atmosphere at the time the amber was exuded from trees1,2, while others suggest that the gas content is controlled by solubility relationships3, diffusion4 or chemical reactions involving oxygen consumption5. Here I describe a combined study of nitrogen, argon and oxygen in amber which makes it possible to distinguish bubble gas from matrix gas in amber by considering N2/Ar and O2/Ar ratios of the first gas released during the crushing of individual amber samples. Crushing experiments do not indicate high oxygen levels in Cretaceous amber as have been recently reported1. Neither Baltic nor Cretaceous amber has even the amount of oxygen expected for equilibration with the modern atmosphere. Successive crushings of individual amber pieces show that the first crush has the highest oxygen content and that both bubble and matrix oxygen is consumed as crushing continues. These results suggest that the oxygen content of amber does not have a bearing on the composition of the palaeoatmosphere.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Berner, R. A. & Landis, G. P. Science 239, 1406–1409 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Berner, R. A. & Landis, G. P. Am. J. Sci. 287, 757–762 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Horibe, Y. & Craig, H. Eos 68, 1513 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Horibe, Y. & Craig, H. Science 241, 719–721 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Beck, C. W. Science 241, 718–719 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Holland, H. D. The Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Oceans (Wiley, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Craig, H. & Hayward, T. L. Science 235, 199–202 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Urbanski, T. Proc. R. Soc. A325, 377–381 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Landis, G. P. & Berner, R. A. Science 241, 721–724 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Beck, C. W., Wilber, E., Meret, S., Kossove, D. & Kermani, K. Archaeometry 8, 96–109 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nissenbaum, A. Naturwissenschaften 62, 341–342 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. McAlpine, J. F. & Martin, J. E. H. Can. Ent. 101, 819–838 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Thure E. Cerling

    Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isotope Laboratory, Geological Research Division A-020, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Thure E. Cerling

Authors
  1. Thure E. Cerling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cerling, T. Does the gas content of amber reveal the composition of palaeoatmospheres?. Nature 339, 695–696 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339695a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339695a0

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation