Taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a new amber-bearing outcrop from the mid-Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin (E Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

Resins are substances secreted by some gymnosperm and angiosperm plants with a complex composition, including volatile and non-volatile terpenoids, phenols, acids, and other compounds (Langenheim, 1969(Langenheim, , 2003Grimaldi, 2019). Traditionally, it is considered that the resin is a defensive and protective substance whose massive production occurs under one, or a combination, of stressful environmental conditions, which could be both of abiotic (temperature, precipitation, atmospheric gas composition, wildfires, volcanism, changes in sea level, etc.) and biotic origin (damage by arthropods or other animals, and microbial activity) (