PIXE STUDY ON THE GROWTH ENVIRONMENT OF PLANTS

Abstract

Growth environment of plants was investigated by analyzing the elemental concentration in leaves of the plants. Camellia was selected as the sample and the leaves of the camellias were collected from Miyagi and Chiba prefectures. The species of elements and their concentrations in the leaves were measured by the in-air PIXE system at Tohoku University. More than 10 elements were detected from the leaves. The concentrations of Mn , Fe , and Rb in the leaves were strongly affected by the place where the tree grew. On the other hand, the concentration of P, S, K, and Ca were less affected by the place of the tree. The determination of the place of the tree was also performed by evaluating the similarity of the elemental concentration in the leaves quantitatively. The difference due to the place was clearly identified and the sampling place was successfully determined by using the elemental concentrations in the leaves.