Abstract:
Amber is one of a gem family, which is fossilized tree resin and has been appreciated for its
color and natural beauty since Neolithic time. Plant resin is formed through the natural
polymerization and fossilization of exuded plant resin over the course of millions of years. In this
study, the level of metal concentrations of amber samples collected from Dima and Dedeba was
investigated using ICP-OES. The level of metal concentration of green amber collected from
Dedeba shows high level of metal concentration of all metals. While yellow amber collected
from Dima has high level of metal concentration of Mn, Mg and Zn but, it has low level of metal
concentration of Cu, Ca and Fe. Iron metal shows greater level of metal concentration in all 5
amber samples. The surface structure of the material was investigated by FT-IR and XRD. Based
on the FTIR spectroscopy result the chemical character of 5 ambers collected from Dima and
Dedeba are similar and shows a broad peak at 3450 cm
-1
that indicates all amber have O-H
stretch. The FT IR spectra of amber samples shows peak at the range 1010 cm
. The
result indicates all samples except D (Dedeba yellow) has succinate character. The XRD pattern
of amber sample sows a broad peak at 2ϴ = 10–20°. Which indicate the amber samples have
amorphous structure. The XRD patterns of the yellow amber sample collected from Dedeba
contain sharp and intensive peak at 2ϴ =32.5°. This diffraction peak is the most intensive
diffraction line for the quartz (SiO
2
Keywords: Amber, Metal, Dedeba, Dima
) phase.
-1
-1245 cm
-1