Abstract
The current study explores for the first time the contrasts and similarities between the elemental (Na, Mg, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) composition of pines that grow in a polluted industrialized area, located close to a steelworks, and that of pines growing in a comparative site, far from industry. Radial trace element profiles were determined by LA-ICPMS. The results are compared with the rainfall load at the monitoring station in Katowice, the nearest one to sampling sites, over the years 1999–2012, received from the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (GIOS). The results show that in annual tree rings, there is no direct linear correlation between rainfall load and concentration of the studied elements in wood of the annual rings. The element concentrations in trees may reflect the sum of different factors that impact the ecosystem, including pollution from large sources and local point sources, immission, load of the rainfall level, and also specific plant physiology processes.
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