This paper presents a spectroscopic analysis and solubility study of rosin, copal, and Burmese amber samples to reveal the structural changes that occur during amber formation. The infrared spectra indicate that during the long geological process of amber formation, small resin molecules first crosslinked and slowly oxidized, eventually forming a stable organic polymer mixture. An analysis of Raman peak areas demonstrated that among the tested samples, the degree of polymerization is highest in Burmese amber and lowest in rosin. Ultraviolet-visible spectra indicate the presence of unsaturated bonds (e.g., carbonyl groups) or conjugated systems in Burmese amber, copal, and rosin. The evaluation of amber, rosin, and copal solubility in six solvents (ethanol, acetone, 1,4-dioxane, ethylacetate, N,N-dimethylamide, and dichloromethane) demonstrated that solubility decreases in the following order: rosin > copal > Burmese amber. Together, the results suggest that the structure of Burmese amber includes large organic molecules containing six-membered rings along with CH2, CH3, C=O, C=C, C–O, and C–C groups.

Ospinsk is an area in Russia well-known for mining the highest quality green nephrite in the world. However, the chatoyant green nephrite found here has not been studied to date. This study explores the mineralogy, geochemistry, and petrogenesis of chatoyant green nephrite collected from Ospinsk using polarizing microscope back-scattered electron images, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, laser Raman spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and compares them with S-type green nephrite from other regions of the world. Tremolite is the main mineral constituent, and chromite, chlorite, graphite, and magnetite are accessory minerals in the samples. The chatoyant green nephrite from Ospinsk is serpentinite-related green nephrite. The Ti content of the chatoyant green nephrite from Ospinsk is significantly higher than that of green nephrite from other places. The chatoyant green nephrite deposit in Ospinsk is a contact metasomatic deposit related to ultramafic rocks. The ultramafic rocks first altered to serpentinite and later converted to tremolite after repeated thermal contact-based metasomatism. During the metasomatism of serpentinite into green nephrite, unilateral, compressive, and shear stresses caused by obduction forced directional growth of tremolite, resulting in chatoyancy.