Tree-ring analysis by pixe for a historical record of soil chemistry response to acidic air pollution

Abstract

Tree cores have been analyzed intact in 1 mm steps, corresponding to time intervals in the rings as short as half a growing season, providing a chronological record of 16 elemental concentrations extending over thirty years back to 1950. Samples were collected in a forested region of western Canada in sandy soil which was impacted by acid-forming gases released by a sulfur recovery sour natural gas plant. Tree core samples of the hybrid lodgepole-Jack pine ( Pinns contorta Loud. × Pinus banksiana Lamb.) were taken in five ecologically similar locations between 1.2 and 9.6 km from the gas plant stacks. Concentrations of some elements showed patterns suggesting that the annual rings preserved a record of changing soil chemistry in response both to natural environmental conditions and to deposition from sulfur gas emissions, commencing after plant start-up in 1959 and modified by subsequent modifications in plant operating procedures. These patterns were most pronounced nearest the gas plant. Certain other elements did not exhibit these patterns, probably reflecting greater importance of biological than of soil chemical properties. The high time resolution of tree-ring analysis, which can be achieved by PIXE, demonstrates that the rings preserve a historical record of elemental composition which may reflect changes in soil chemistry during plant growth as it may be affected by both natural ecological processes and acidic deposition from the atmosphere.