Amber Listserv / australian amber

Thu Sep 6 07:53:33 EDT 2007

Hi Dale,

Been rummaging thru my photo archives. Here's the piece that's translucent
reddish-chocolate. Sunlight was not good today. Will take a pix of it's
cousin-piece that has rock matrix attached when possible.

Andy

On 9/6/07, Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au> wrote:
>
>  hi andy,
> thanks for your thoughts and ideas.
> look forard to seeing some photos.
> all the best dale
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Andy Ng <andy.ng.aik.hoe at gmail.com>
> *To:* Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au>
> *Cc:* amber group <amber at ambericawest.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 05, 2007 5:59 PM
> *Subject:* Re: Amber Listserv / australian amber
>
> Hi Dale,
>
> To avoid confusion, I'm answering your mail in sequence to the
> questions/subjects in it.
>
> Your photo titled *op%20large%20peice.jpg *resembles a few chunks that I
> have...translucent reddish-chocolate. One chunk even has rock matrix between
> layers. It's very cloudy today, so I'll wait for the sun before taking
> photos to show you. We have Agathis Borneensis trees here, so it may be that
> the stuff (yours and mine) originated from the same genus of trees. Agathis
> Australis also exists here, but that type was imported to be planted for
> pulp-wood.
>
> I avidly look forward to the IRS signatures comparison. This is very
> interesting!
>
> I've yet to find lignite (if memory serves me correctly, lignite is brown
> coal eh?) with my amber. Maybe that's because I don't often dig for the
> stuff. Landslides and sinkholes are where most of my pieces come from.
> Transparent deep reds occur here also. Depending on the thickness of the
> polished piece, it may appear cognac with red flashes, and yes they do have
> a very distinct blue-green fluorescence that appears instantly when exposed
> to UV, no long camera exposure times needed.
>
> Dale, if the black-looking piece (actually a deep red coloration, so deep
> that it appears black) did not have any crust on when you found it, that
> piece has been tumbled by mother nature for you, indicating a long time in
> the sea, buffeted by currents and sanded by sand. I can yank out a few
> hundred kilos of similar pieces which I found inland, and all of them will
> have a layer of crust. Only broken parts of the pieces will be devoid of
> crust.
>
> As I was driving back from the post office just now, my mind was deep in
> thought regarding our similar ambers, and I had a minor epiphany. Sometimes
> that's more dangerous than using a cellphone when driving. I got back
> unscathed and I'm sure that old lady will get over her fright, but that's
> another story. Dale, a human element may have led to resinites from here
> appearing on your shores.
>
> Consider this scenario: Japanese and Taiwanese fishing trawler ships
> encroach into Malaysian waters (a common occurrence). They net their illegal
> catch and make a run to international waters. After offloading their illegal
> catch onto a factory ship and replenishing their supplies, they head for
> Aussie waters to do their dirty work again, and jettison the trash that was
> hauled up along with their catch in Malaysian waters. Said trash may include
> chunks of resinites, which are then nudged by currents onto your shores.
>
> Andy
>
>
>
> On 9/5/07, Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au> wrote:
> >
> >  Hi Andy ,
> > thanks for your mail.
> > Sorry no ideas on the amber producing tree however some think maybe from
> > a Kauri of some sort.    The Kauri Pine (Agathis ) is a different species to
> > the ones found in New Zealand. Could be possible that the tree that produced
> > the Borneo amber may have grown in Cape York?
> > Would be very interesting if the possible ''pods''  turned out to be the
> > same! they do take an amazing polish.
> > Thats great John .F. has your amber signiture, as he has tested Aust
> > amber in Poland also a few years ago, JOHN would it be possible to
> > have  these signitures compared  for us?
> > I have a copy some where if you can not find the Aust. amber copy?
> > 60 MYO is a great age for Tertiary amber, which is what the Aussi
> > stuff may be,  (Tertiary but how old ?)do you find Lignite with some of your
> > amber?The majority of pieces I find are tansparent red  , and have a blue or
> > green florecene.
> > The black looking peice ( red) is in its natural form, I havent found
> > any with a thick crust. The only crusty type pieces are more like Peders
> > amber from Denmark and have a hard yellow coating.         photo attached.
> > thanks for your mail.
> > kind regards Dale
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> >  *From:* Andy Ng <andy.ng.aik.hoe at gmail.com>
> > *To:* Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au>
> > *Cc:* amber group <amber at ambericawest.com> ; tamber12 at aol.com
> > *Sent:* Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:47 AM
> > *Subject:* Re: Amber Listserv / australian amber
> >
> > Dale, your photo just gave me an instant headache. Seed pods...so that's
> > what they were. Am afraid I've committed many of them to the garbage truck
> > over the years. I thought they were just junk that wouldn't take a polish.
> > If I come across any more, I'll be keeping them.
> >
> > As for comparing Borneo amber to the stuff you found, I don't mind a
> > swap, but judging from burn, scent and polish would be a tad inconclusive
> > and arbitrary. If you'd ask John Fudala, mabye he could have IRS performed
> > on your pieces? They already have my stuff's IRS signature in Poland, so
> > comparing them would be a snap, and make for a much more conclusive
> > comparison. I don't know what tree they came from; John mentioned that the
> > signature matched that of the dipterocarpe family. Any ideas on the trees
> > from whence your amber sprang from? Judging from looks alone, I'd say it
> > came from that same family of trees.
> >
> > I'm sending a few pieces to James Cornell over in the US for
> > identification of the bugs within. One of those pieces contains at least 3
> > insects and was part of the first chunk of amber I found around the Danum
> > valley earlier this year. That's a rainforest that's supposedly 60MYO. The
> > coloration of that area's amber is different from the normal dark ones, more
> > akin to a translucent yellow-orange. Maybe James can also lend his expertise
> > to identifying the amber itself.
> >
> > Dale, with reference to that black-looking piece on the left, was the
> > crust removed or was it found like that? I've been given chunks of resinites
> > hauled in by trawler boats before and while some had barnacles on them, most
> > had one thing in common: a very thick crust (sometimes more than 1cm thick).
> > That thick crust would definitely provide much protection against the rigors
> > of a long ocean voyage.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> >
> > On 9/5/07, Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au> wrote:
> > >
> > >  hi guys,
> > > thanks for your interesting mail .
> > > its true that the source is not yet discovered and flow currents do
> > > pass down that way the amber is found.
> > > The similarity to Borneo amber is interesting also, the looks are
> > > simular,  the aussie amber isn't rounded and or weathered from ocean travel,
> > >
> > > Another strange occurrence  is the amber pods (seeds that are totally
> > > amberised) which I havent seen in other ambers and not yet explained by
> > > scientists (here in Aust)  attaching photo.
> > > If anyone has seen this in amber could you please send info?
> > > There has been IRS test done also. and not yet matching.
> > > Progress is slow but have just been up north with scientests and
> > > results will start to come in let you know when this happens.
> > > If interested Andy, would you like to swap apiece of Borneo for an
> > > Aust peice of amber, we could do some tests to see if it may be the the same
> > > or simular? ie burn ,smell , polish? could be interesting.
> > > Andy do you know which tree produced the Borneo amber?
> > > all the best Dale
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ---- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > *From:* tamber12 at aol.com
> > > *To:* andy.ng.aik.hoe at gmail.com
> > > *Cc:* dalewicks at ledanet.com.au ; amber at ambericawest.com
> > >  *Sent:* Wednesday, September 05, 2007 5:07 AM
> > > *Subject:* Re: Amber Listserv / australian amber
> > >
> > > Andy, the amber Dale Wicks has found has been labeled "Wickite", but
> > > as yet we don't have a proven Aussie source.  It's hypothesized that there
> > > is one, it's just that they are only now getting to the point of looking for
> > > it actively.  Dale has been a busy amber hunter and spent much time in the
> > > bush lately.  He will have much to tell soon, I hope.  If it is found that
> > > Australia has a natural amber source, he's the guy that made it happen.  As
> > > it is, he's the reason we have all this Aussie amber to talk about anyway
> > > and I think it's all very exciting, however it got there.  Just think, out
> > > on a boat on the Great Barrier Reef, coasting up into the river valleys and
> > > getting out on a beach to dig around and look for amber.  Dodging crocodiles
> > > and other critters is your only danger.  I think I could deal with that.
> > >
> > > Tammi
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Andy Ng <andy.ng.aik.hoe at gmail.com>
> > > To: tamber12 at aol.com <tamber12 at aol.com>
> > > Cc: dalewicks at ledanet.com.au; amber at ambericawest.com
> > > Sent: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:51 pm
> > > Subject: Re: Amber Listserv / australian amber
> > >
> > > Tammi, thank you for a very logical hypothesis (re: ocean currents
> > > washing resinites from the Indonesian islands down to Oz). It may well be
> > > the case, and bears further investigation.
> > >
> > > Another possibility exists: that such resinites were produced locally
> > > over there by indigenous dipterocarpe trees. Darwin is rather similar in
> > > climate and vegetation to my neck of the woods. Maybe millennia ago, there
> > > were rainforest trees there pumping out resins as well.
> > >
> > > BTW, if my foggy memory didn't fail me, I recall that Aussie amber had
> > > already been proven to exist and is named Wickite? It's only logical to
> > > assume that any place that supported vegetation in the past would have very
> > > high chances of having resins being exuded by injured trees, and said resins
> > > turning to amber over the course of time. Indeed, I'd be very surprised if
> > > any place that had supported vegetation in the past was devoid of amber.
> > >
> > > Andy
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On 9/4/07, tamber12 at aol.com < tamber12 at aol.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Andy, I've looked into that some and I'm more inclined to believe it
> > > > has to do with ocean currents washing the resins onto the Aussie shores.
> > > > New Zealand has similar resin finds on the most southern tip, and no natural
> > > > deposits but if you look at the flow of current coming from the direction of
> > > > the Indonesian land mass, the current is such that buoyant materials could
> > > > be transported in that direction. Just my thinking on the case.  Either way,
> > > > there is such a variety of neat stuff coming from Dale's finds that I keep
> > > > hoping they will discover natural deposits there.  I believe some of the
> > > > strata in Cape York is old enough to support it, and that in time it will be
> > > > proven.
> > > >
> > > > Dale, thanks for sharing and for giving us something new to talk
> > > > about!
> > > >
> > > > Tammi
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Andy Ng <andy.ng.aik.hoe at gmail.com>
> > > > To: Amber Oz < dalewicks at ledanet.com.au>
> > > > Cc: amber group <amber at ambericawest.com>
> > > > Sent: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 1:19 am
> > > > Subject: Re: Amber Listserv / australian amber
> > > >
> > > > Nice one Dale. I'm again struck by the remarkable similarity between
> > > > Borneo and Aussie amber. Does anyone know if these 2 places used to be a
> > > > single landmass with common flora?
> > > >
> > > > Andy
> > > >
> > > > On 9/3/07, Amber Oz <dalewicks at ledanet.com.au > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >  hi,
> > > > > hope all are good.
> > > > > l have been collecting australian amber for the past month and
> > > > > have found some nice pieces, attaching a photo of a couple.
> > > > > also an interesting deposit of lignite that has been dated as
> > > > > miocene in age.as yet no assosiation ith the aust. amber.
> > > > > all the best dale
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Amber mailing list
> > > > > Amber at ambericawest.com
> > > > > http://ambericawest.com/mailman/listinfo/amber_ambericawest.com
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Amber mailing list
> > > > Amber at ambericawest.comhttp://ambericawest.com/mailman/listinfo/amber_ambericawest.com
> > > >
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