Amber is the fossilised resin from
the extinct pine variety, Pinus Succinifera. that grew approximately
50 million years ago, especially in the south of the Scandinavian
peninsula and adjacent areas. Although there are deposits of amber
all round the world, (Central and Eastern Europe, Sicily, USE,
The Caribbean, The Middle East), the Baltic count as the classical
place to fund it. Approximately 90 percent of the present world
deposits of amber, also known as succzinite comes from the Baltic
Sea, in the region around Kalinigrad, formerly known as Königsberg.
This is where bernsteinbett.de obtains the amber for
the amber bed, "Amberdorm".
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The Baltic Sea did not exist at that time, many millions of years
ago: Norway, Sweden and Finland were at the heart of a large land
mass with sub-tropical and dense forest growth on the coasts.
The amber pine which produced large quantities of resin when they
were damaged, struck by lightning; damaged by wind or attacked
by insects were native to this area. The resin from the trees
fell to the ground from the trees in the course of many millions
of years. Micro organisms and poly-condensation of the resinic
acids and terpenes caused it to dry out and become hard. Considerably
more than one million tons of amber must have formed in this way.
The forests disappeared because of change in soil and climate.
The resin was washed out and formed deposits in other places,
especially in clay-bearing sediments - the so-called "Blue
Soil" extending from the Samland Coast up to the area to
the west of Danzig. The largest, developed amber deposits are
still found here today.
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