Hydrocarbon composition of Russian amber from the Voznovo lignite deposit and Sakhalin Island

Based on previous fluorescence and fluorescence excitation measurements, the blue glow of amber has been related to the fluorescent aromatic hydrocarbon perylene, although FTIR study of the Russian blue amber has not found any distinct signature of this compound. The present analyses using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry have also identified no perylene in any of the four Russian amber samples. The hydrocarbon fractions of the extractable organic matter from the ambers are dominated by C18 to C20 diterpenoids of the labdane, abietane, pimarane, phyllocladane and kaurane types. Their biomarker composition is consistent with the proposed origin from gymnosperms of the families Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, and/or Taxodiacceae. The cause for the blue amber glow could not be clarified based on the commonly used methods of hydrocarbon composition study.