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Distribution and Chemical Characteristics of Cations in Annual Rings of Japanese Cedar

Dep. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University 33, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-81, Japan;

I. Eto

Nippon Steel Corp., 1, Oaza Nishinosu, Oita 870, Japan;

H. Kofuji

Power Reactor & Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., 4002, Oarai, Ibaraki 311-13, Japan;

Y. Takashima

Kyushu Environmental Evaluation Assoc., 1-10-1, Matsukadai, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813, Japan;

M. Koike, Y. Imaizumi and T. Harada

Research Lab., Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., Shimobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 815, Japan.

^* Corresponding author (momoscc{at}mbox.nc.kyushu-u.ac.jp).

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to investigate the distribution and chemical characteristics of cations in annual rings of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) grown in a healthy stand of an unindustrialized region in Japan and discuss the possibility of using cations in tree-rings as a chronological index of acidic deposition. Radial distributions of some cations and P at different vertical positions of the stem were analyzed for five trees from the same mountain. Each cation and P in all trees showed a specific distribution in its radial pattern but similar distribution trends were observed at all vertical positions. The cations and P were classified into three groups: (I) constant radial concentrations (Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, Na⁺, and probably Ba²⁺), (II) high concentrations in the heartwood and low in the sapwood (Mg²⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺), and (III) increasing concentrations in the sapwood (P, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺). The total concentration of cations exceeded the calcium-binding capacity (CBC) of the wood, and the excess was attributed to K⁺ in a salt form. The CBC increased from the sapwood/heartwood boundary toward the pith in the heartwood but remained constant in the sapwood. The increase of CBC in the heartwood was consistent with the profile of Mg²⁺, indicating a transfer of Mg²⁺ into heartwood and fixation on the acquired binding site. The radial distribution of ⁹⁰Sr was closely related to the cumulative deposition of fallout from the nuclear weapon tests, but that of ¹³⁷Cs was unrelated. This suggests immobility of Sr²⁺ and mobility of Cs⁺ in the horizontal direction of wood. The conservation of the historical ⁹⁰Sr/Sr²⁺ change indicated that no influence of heartwood formation on the chemical environment of Sr²⁺ in cedar xylem and a possibility of using Sr²⁺ as a chronological index of nutrient availability. A steady-state in nutrient availability is speculated for trees growing in this mountain because all of the trees analyzed show constant radial distributions of Sr²⁺ for decades.

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