Amber is called "time capsule", which beautifully preserves the wonderful evolutionary fragments of organisms in geological history. Among them, Burmese amber is one of the most famous Cretaceous amber in the world, which contains the most abundant Cretaceous biota known at present. 20 14 the team led by researcher Huang from Nanjing institute of geology and paleontology, Chinese academy of sciences and domestic and foreign collaborators discovered Mesozoic armor fossils for the first time.
Myanmar plate is located between India plate and Asia-Europe plate, and its geological activity is relatively strong. During the Cretaceous period, it was the concentration of volcanoes, and volcanic activity was also very frequent. Amber was also under great pressure during its formation and was highly oxidized.
The geological age of amber in Myanmar is Cretaceous, and a large amount of chalk (calcium carbonate) was found in this geological layer in Cretaceous, which is also the reason for the formation of Genper in amber in Myanmar. At the end of Cretaceous, due to mass extinction, there were many acidic components in geology, which led to the rich succinic acid in most parts of Myanmar.
The place where Burmese amber first appeared in China was Yunnan, and it was also the earliest place for sale. Relevant records show that during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Meng Gong and Denai once belonged to the territory of China, and were administratively subordinate to Tengyue (now Tengchong County), so there are historical reasons why jade came out of Tengchong and amber came out of Tengyue. Tengchong people brought jadeite into Tengchong through the Southern Silk Road, and also brought the crystal amber left on the ancient road into Tengchong again.
In the Qing Dynasty, Tengchong jadeite and amber processing became more popular. Tengchong amber appears in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Europe from time to time, from the nobles in the palace to the rich officials and European businessmen. With the development of the market, Tengchong has the reputation of "Amber Arch Jade Bridge". Unfortunately, after the scorched earth war of resistance and the Cultural Revolution, Tengchong jade culture and amber culture are out of date, and the northern part of Myanmar, which originally belonged to China, has also been included in the territory of Myanmar. Therefore, most people think of amber from the Baltic Sea and Domica, but they have long forgotten Burmese amber, which has been active in China for thousands of years. Recently, some people even said that Burmese amber is a newly developed variety. This ignorance can only be regarded as a joke.
However, due to the continuous civil war in Myanmar and the rainy season climate, it is very difficult to mine amber in Myanmar. The annual rainy season begins in June and ends in 1 1 month, with abundant rainfall. Apart from motorcycles, the main means of transportation in Myanmar is elephants, and the roads are rugged and muddy. The mining process of every piece of Burmese amber is very difficult.