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TECHNICAL REPORTS
Plant and Environment Interactions

Tree-Ring Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 as Potential Indicators of Radioactive Pollution

^a Wood Anatomy and Quality Lab., Forestry and Forest Products Res. Inst., Tsukuba Norin P.O. Box 16, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan
^b Radioisotope Res. Center, Kyoto Univ., Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
^c Grad. School of Agriculture, Kyoto Univ., Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
^d Div. of Human Environment, The Univ. of Human Environments, Okazaki, Aichi 444-3505, Japan

* Corresponding author (akagawa{at}ffpri.affrc.go.jp)

Received for publication November 3, 2001. To examine whether tree rings can be used to detect or assess local historical ⁹⁰Sr or ¹³⁷Cs fallout, such as that resulting from the Hiroshima atomic bomb, radial distribution of ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs in trees was examined. We studied a gymnosperm [Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica (L. f.) D. Don] and an angiosperm (Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki Thunb.) tree species from the vicinity of the atomic bomb hypocenter, and from other locations in Japan. A significant amount of ¹³⁷Cs was detected in tree rings formed before 1945, indicating lateral migration of Cs. In contrast, the specific activity of ⁹⁰Sr in the Hiroshima Japanese cedar showed the highest level in 1945, due to relatively immobile characteristics of Sr compared with Cs. Strontium-90 and Sr analyses in tree rings helped identify and distinguish between residual ⁹⁰Sr activity from the Hiroshima atomic bomb and the atmospheric nuclear testing. This indicates the possibility of detecting or assessing previous local ⁹⁰Sr pollution through with tree-ring analysis.