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Bulk carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen stable isotope composition of recent resins from amber-producing Hymenaea

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Abstract

Resins of Hymenaea, an angiosperm tree genus known to be a copious resin producer and a major source of amber since the Oligo-Miocene, were collected from a wide range of tropical environments from Latin America and Africa, and analyzed for their carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen stable isotope composition. The average value for δ13C in the resins was found to be −27.0±1.3‰, which is very similar to the values reported for resins in other studies. δ18Οvalues for the Hymenaea resins averaged +11.2±1.6‰, or about 20‰ more depleted than normal plant cellulose. δD values of the resins ranged from −196 to −319‰, with an average of −243±30‰. Rough estimates suggest a fractionation of −200 to −210‰ between the resins and the environmental water. This value is similar to the −200‰ value observed for the fractionation between other plant lipids and environmental water. The present study suggests that the stable isotope composition of fossil resins (amber) has the potential to provide information on ancient environmental waters.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Mrs. Emmanuela Negreanu (WIS) for excellent technical assistance. We are also indebted to Dr. C. Turney and an anonymous reviewer for very constructive comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Arie Nissenbaum & Dan Yakir

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Sinsheimer Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95604, USA

    Jean H. Langenheim

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  1. Arie Nissenbaum
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  2. Dan Yakir
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  3. Jean H. Langenheim
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Correspondence to Arie Nissenbaum.

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Nissenbaum, A., Yakir, D. & Langenheim, J.H. Bulk carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen stable isotope composition of recent resins from amber-producing Hymenaea. Naturwissenschaften 92, 26–29 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-004-0580-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-004-0580-2

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