Geochemical Investigation of Early Cretaceous Amber, Isle of Wight, England

Terpenoid resin is produced by all families and most genera of the order Coniferales (the conifers), and the distribution of terpenes present in most conifer resins is characteristic of the originating genera. Fossil resins, also known as amber, can preserve many of the chemical characteristics of the original resins from which they are derived. Early Cretaceous (Barremian) amber from the Isle of Wight, southern England, is attributable to the major extinct conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae. Analyses of this material by pyrolysis-gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) indicate a unique terpene distribution dissimilar to that of any modern taxa. These data provide the first clear chemotaxonomic characteristics attributable to the Cheirolepidiaceae. These analyses also represent the oldest amber to date to yield useful chemotaxonomic data.