One of the very interesting findings when analyzing Baltic amber was the fact that its d13C was extremely constant for all analyzed samples (~-22.9 per mil PDB). Now, if similar analyses would be available for Romanian amber, it would be possible to tell whether they are coming form the Baltic or Romania (of course, some amber from Romanian sites should be analyzed to see their d13C)

The suggestion brought by Aurel Persoiu is very attractive for you only need ot collect  a d13C of the whole amber from Romania to see if it is different from baltic amber.

Sincerely

Jacques Connan

Ancillary to the subject of baltic amber's differences with other varieties, the following must be quite impressive, or at least it was:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/27/germany

The best way to distinguish Baltic amber from other material is Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. There is the characteristic “Baltic shoulder” from ~1250 to 1175 cm-1, followed by a sharp absorption peak at ~1159 cm-1.

This has been published quite a while ago:

Beck C., Wilbur E., Meret S. (1964) Infrared spectra and the origin of amber. Nature, Vol. 201, pp. 256–257.

Langenheim J. (1969) A botanical inquiry. Science, Vol. 163, pp. 1157–1169.

More recently and available in Open Access:

A new proposal concerning the botanical origin of Baltic amber

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/276/1672/3403#F2

Thank you !

Dear Carciumaru Marin,

have you the data for différence in the color of Baltic amber ?

Best,

MTT