A laboratorial study on influence of alkaline and oxidative environment on preservation of Pinus tabulaeformis pollen

Abstract

Different sedimentary settings can influence preservation of pollens, which would lead to misinterpretation of fossil pollen spectrum. This study investigates the influence on the preservation of Pinus tabulaeformis pollen by simulating alkaline and oxidative environment in the laboratory. There was no obvious change in the content of Pinus tabulaeformis pollen while comparing the original with the ones that were immersed with 10% NaOH liquor for ten days, or boiled for five hours, and or boiled with 20%–30% NaOH for one hour, respectively. However, the pollen fossils were obviously corroded and eroded after being boiled with 40% NaOH for one hour and were seriously corroded after five hours. The result indicates that Pinus tabulaeformis pollen is quite durable in alkaline environment and heating condition within a shorter period of time, although alkaline environment has a disadvantage for its preservation. We also tested the influence of oxidation on Pinus tabulaeformis pollen preservation with KMnO4 as oxidant. The result presents that the number of remaining Pinus tabulaeformis pollen grains decreased quickly after being dipped in KMnO4 along with extending the reaction time and reinforcing oxidant. The rate of remnant pollen grains was less than 1% after being dipped with 2% KMnO4 for one hour. It is suggested that oxidative environment has stronger influence on Pinus tabulaeformis pollen preservation than alkaline environment.