Ajkait

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The former find area around Ajka is north of Lake Balaton between Zalaegerszeg and Veszprém

Ajkait (seldom also "Aykit") is the name for an Upper Cretaceous , 70-90 million year old fossil resin from the area around the Hungarian city of Ajka . The findings were made in connection with coal mining in this area. Since the pits were closed and the spoil heaps were renatured , no more finds have been possible.

The fossil resin described for the first time in 1871 occurs in lignite layers , i.e. at the place where the resin was formed, so that the absolute age of this amber variant can be determined reliably. The fossil resin usually has a reddish brown to pale yellow color, is both transparent and opaque and contains a proportion of sulfur (up to about 1.5%) that is relatively high for amber, but in contrast to Baltic amber (succinite), it does not contain any succinic acid . Organic inclusions occur, but are difficult to see. Some authors suspect a relative of our firs ( Abies ) as the botanical source of the resin . Infrared spectroscopic investigations, however, indicate that the resins recovered from this area are probably of different botanical origins and the name Ajkait is therefore only to be regarded as a collective term for fossil resins from the area around Ajka.

Amber finds from the region are on display in the Ajka Mining Museum.

literature

  • R. Körmendy & KH Neuwald: Ajkait - a Hungarian amber. In Fundgrube , Vol. 3/4, 1997.
  • KH Neuwald: Ajkait - a fossil resin from Hungary. In: Fossilien , Heft 4, pp. 241–244, Korb 2003.
  • KH Neuwald: Finds of fossil resins from Hungary. In: Fossilien , Heft 1, pp. 51–54, Korb 2006.
  • G. Papp: A Kárpát-övezetben felfedezett ásványok, kőzetek és fosszilis gyanták története. Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum . Budapest 2002.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Szabo: The Ajka coal deposit in the Bakony Mountains. Negotiations kuk geol. Reichsanstalt, 14 , Vienna 1871.
  2. ^ N. Vavra: Chemical Characterization of Fossil Resins ("Amber") - A Critical Review of Methods, Problems and Possibilities: Determination of Mineral Species, Botanical Sources and Geographical Attribution. In: Abh. Geol. B.-A. Volume 49, pp. 147–157, Vienna 1993.
  3. ↑ Ajka Mining Museum