Cretaceous rock deposits. Close-up view of sedimentary rock deposits found in a quarry in Charente-Maritime, France. This region of France contains lo

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Cretaceous rock deposits. Close-up view of sedimentary rock deposits found in a quarry in Charente-Maritime, France. This region of France contains lower Cretaceous (100-million-year-old) deposits where amber (fossilised resin from conifer plants) is found in abundance. Many amber pieces contain inclusions (remnants of small plants or animals trapped when the resin was a sticky fluid). In clear amber the inclusions can be seen using an optical microscope. But most amber from the Charente-Maritime deposits are opaque and require powerful X-rays to detect inclusions.

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Photo credit: © PASCAL GOETGHELUCK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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