Abstract
Waterlogged wood samples 300 to 100.000 years old of Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris and Quercus sp. from northern Europe (Norway, Sweden) that had been preserved in a glacier, burial grounds, house settlements, harbour installations and sunken ships in the sea were examined for changes in physico-chemical characteristics as compared to recent wood. The results showed that in waterlogged wood of all species the solubility in 1% NaOH (8.39-22.85%) was found to be higher than that of recent wood (3.84-5.57%). Ash content varied between 1.37-7.12% in old wood and was much higher than in fresh wood (0.31-0.65%). Klason ligin in old wood (25.71-72.40%) was higher than in fresh wood (20.31-30.95%) while crystallinity index (12.79-33.69%) was found to be lower than in fresh wood (34.56-40.20%). Increasing lignin content in old wood resulted in reducing the crystallinity index up to 3.1 times.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have