Anna Pazdur

This study reports the variation of tree-ring widths and annual variation of concentration of metals (Na, Mg, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb) in pine growing nearby chemical factories. The conifers (Pinus silvestris L.) investigated in this study covered the time span from 1920s to 2010 AD. Tree-ring widths were measured, dated and rechecked using the COFECHA. Radial trace-element profiles were determined by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The combined usage of tree ring width and chemical composition of wood provides historic records of anthropogenic impact on the environment and allows identifying the behavior adaptation of trees to the pollution. Data of pine tree cores collected from the sites nearby chemical factories show increasing levels of pollution linked to the increasing of industrial activities in Poland and subsequent dust fallout around the site. This study evidences that tree rings can be used as archives of past environmental contamination.

Cellulose δ¹⁸O and δD can provide insights on climates and hydrological cycling in the distant past and how these factors differ spatially. However, most studies of plant cellulose have used only one isotope, most commonly δ¹⁸O, resulting in difficulties partitioning variation in δ¹⁸O of precipitation vs. evaporative conditions that affect leaf water isotopic enrichment. Moreover, observations of pronounced diurnal differences from conventional steady‐state model predictions of leaf water isotopic fractionation have cast some doubt on single isotope modeling approaches for separating precipitation and evaporation drivers of cellulose δ¹⁸O or δD. We explore a dual isotope approach akin to the concept of deuterium‐excess (d), to establish deuterium deviations from the global meteoric water line in leaf water (Δd_l) as driven by relative humidity (RH). To demonstrate this concept, we survey studies of leaf water δ¹⁸O and δD in hardwood vs. conifer trees. We then apply the concept to cellulose δ¹⁸O and δD using a mechanistic model of cellulose δ¹⁸O and δD to reconstruct deuterium deviations from the global meteoric water line (Δd_c) in Quercus macrocarpa, Q. robur, and Pseudotsuga menziesii. For each species, Δd_c showed strong correlations with RH across sites. Δd_c agreed well with steady‐state predictions for Q. macrocarpa, while for Q. robur, the relationship with RH was steeper than expected. The slope of Δd_c vs. RH of P. menziesii was also close to steady‐state predictions, but Δd_c were more enriched than predicted. This is in agreement with our leaf water survey showing conifer Δd_l was more enriched than predicted. Our data reveal that applications of this method should be appropriate for reconstructing RH from cellulose δ¹⁸O and δD after accounting for differences between hardwoods and conifers. Hence, Δd_c should be useful for understanding variability in RH associated with past climatic cycles, across regional climates, or across complex terrain where climate modeling is challenging. Furthermore, Δd_c and inferred RH values should help in constraining variation in source water δ¹⁸O.

The mass spectrometric investigations of carbon isotope composition of glucose received from α-cellulose samples derived from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing in Niepołomice Forest were the main aim of this study. The annual rings covered the time span from 1950 to 2000. α-Cellulose samples were extracted from increment cores of four representative trees, and then acid hydrolysis was performed. The number of sunshine hours, thermal and pluvial conditions of the growing season and in the preceding months had a significant effect on pine. Also non-climatic factors, most likely by industrial pollution signal, have been recorded in the isotopic composition of glucose. The relationship between climatic conditions, carbon dioxide emission and annual tree-rings carbon isotopic composition was analysed, using methods of correlation and response function, and multiple regression function.

We present the first analysis of the influence of climate change on carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors for two saccharides (glucose and α-cellulose) of pine wood. The conifers grew in the Niepołomice Forest in Poland and the annual rings covered a time span from 1935 to 2000 AD. Glucose samples from acid hydrolysis of α-cellulose were extracted from annual tree rings. The carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose were not stable over time. The mean value for the carbon isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose was greater than unity. The mean value for the oxygen isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose was lower than unity. We established, with respect to climate change, the significance of the interannual and intraannual variation in the carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors between both saccharides. We used moving interval correlation results for May of the previous year through September of the current year using a base length of 48 years. The relationship with summer temperature is the main climate signal in the carbon isotope fractionation factor between glucose and α-cellulose. The relationship with autumn sunshine is the main climate signal in the oxygen isotope fractionation factor between glucose and α-cellulose for the tree ring chronology.

Southern Poland is home to numerous large mining and energy industry facilities, which consume relatively great amounts of fossil fuels. Temporal and spatial distribution of CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere were estimated on the basis of ¹³C and ¹⁴C isotope measurements in atmospheric CO₂ and in α-cellulose from pine tree rings. The Suess effect was evaluated in the atmospheric CO₂ from the High Tatra Mountains (Kasprowy Wierch) and the urban area (Kraków), as well as in tree rings from Niepołomice Forest near Kraków. Two different models were used to estimate the emission component recorded in tree ring δ¹³C on the background of climatic changes.

Hydrological Changes after the Last Ice Retreat in Northern Poland Using Radiocarbon Dating

Tree-ring samples were taken from a from a pine tree (Pinus pinea) growing in Villar de Peralonso, a rural area 50 km west of the city of Salamanca, Spain. All samples were processed to extract α-cellulose and the radiocarbon concentration in each annual ring was measured using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at the University of Nagoya, Japan. The data set covers a growth period between 1979 and 2006, and represents the concentrations of 14C in a “clean area.” The average difference between 14C concentrations in Villar de Peralonso and NH zone 1 for the period 1979–1999 is 4.1 ± 1.3‰. A sample was taken to obtain the reference level of 14C for the Iberian Peninsula, for a study of anthropogenic emission of CO2 in urban areas. As part of the initial study, 14C concentration data in tree rings from the city of Valladolid were used to recalculate the fossil fuel component (cfoss) using reference data from Villar de Peralonso. DOI: 10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16180