Abstracts
Abstract
We report on a discovery of amber from the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks of the Sydney Coalfield, Nova Scotia, Canada. The amber occurs in the form of droplets and as a linear feature and ranges in colour from light brown to dark purple. The amber was found in situ in siltstone above the Middle Pennsylvanian Hub coal seam, where it was associated with abundantly abscised pinnules of the seed fern Linopteris obliqua. The amber specimens were analyzed by infrared spectrometry and their spectrochemical characteristics were compared with those of other fossil ambers. This discovery not only expands the inventory of amber to as old as ~300 million years, but also documents that Carboniferous seed ferns were able to utilize biosynthetic mechanisms to produce resinous exudates.
Résumé
Nous rapportons une découverte d’ambre dans les roches sédimentaires carbonifères du terrain houiller de Sydney, en Nouvelle-Écosse, Canada. L’ambre se manifeste sous forme de gouttelettes ainsi que de figures linéaires, et il a une teinte variant du brun pâle au mauve foncé. L’ambre a été découvert in situ dans de la siltite au-dessus du filon de charbon du Pennsylvanien moyen Hub, où il est associé à des pinnules abondamment falsifiées de la fougère à graines Linopteris obliqua. Les spécimens d’ambre ont été analysés par spectrométrie infrarouge et leurs caractéristiques spectrochimiques ont été comparées à celles d’autres ambres fossiles. Cette découverte élargit non seulement l’inventaire de l’ambre à une période remontant à environ 300 millions d’années, mais documente également la capacité des fougères à graines carbonifères d’utiliser des mécanismes biosynthétiques pour produire des exsudats résineux.
Appendices
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