Gall midge in amber click on pictures to see them larger We're all familiar with resin, that sticky substance that oozes from injured trees. As it flows resin picks up all sorts of debris, sometimes trapping insects and other small creatures. When it dries it becomes very hard, almost stonelike. Under the right conditions, resin can become fossilized, thus preserving whatever is trapped inside of it. In its fossilized form resin is known as amber.

Amber is widely used to make jewelry, it's transparent nature gives it unique optical properties and many people enjoy it for its sheer beauty. An object trapped inside amber is known as an "inclusion" and the value of an amber stone depends greatly on the rarity and quality of its inclusion. Small stones with tiny insects, such as the gall midge shown above magnified 40 times, are fairly common and sometimes sell for less than $5. Stones with large and/or multiple inclusions, clearly visible to the naked eye, could fetch $100 or more while stones with rare items such as small vertebrates could be worth thousands!
The amber stone shown above came from Amber Depot . They sell a variety of amber with and without inclusions and also have a good selection of microscopes.

amber gallery

microscopic gallery

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