Carbon Isotopic Composition of Tree Rings as A Tool for Biomonitoring CO2 Level

Carbon isotopes are widely used as indicators in the study of atmospheric CO2 variability in space and time. Preliminary results are part of a project investigating 13C and 14C concentration changes during the last 150 yr in Poland, both in industrial and ecologically clean regions, using annual tree rings (Pinus sylvestris, Populus nigra). The results describe the local Suess effect recorded in the industrial Kraków and Upper Silesia regions compared to changes of background radiocarbon concentration caused by global human activity in a “clean region,” Augustów Wilderness. The δ13C record also shows the influence of the local Suess effect.

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Evaluating Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Cycling in a Forested Lake Watershed Using Carbon Isotopes

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s003382220006392x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 636-645 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Ramon Aravena ◽

S. L. Schiff ◽

S. E. Trumbore ◽

P. J. Dillon ◽

Richard Elgood

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Composition ◽

Carbon Isotopes ◽

Inorganic Carbon ◽

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽

Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽

Isotopic Fractionation ◽

Early Spring ◽

Late Winter ◽

Isotope Pattern ◽

Carbon Isotopic

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is the main acid buffer in forested lake watersheds in Canada. We used carbon isotopes (13C, 14C) to evaluate the production and cycling of DIC in an acid-sensitive lake watershed of the Precambrian Shield. Soil CO2, groundwater and stream DIC were characterized chemically and isotopically. Soil CO2 concentration profiles reflect both changes in production and in losses due to diffusion. δ13C soil CO2 profiles (δ13C values of −23‰ in summer, slightly enriched during the fall and −25%‰ during the winter) are a reflection of the isotopic composition of the sources and changes in isotopic fractionation due to diffusion. Carbon isotopic composition (13C, 14C) of the groundwater and stream DIC clearly indicate that weathering of silicates by soil CO2 is the main source of DIC in these watersheds. 14C data show that, in addition to recent groundwater, an older groundwater component with depleted 14C activity is also present in the bedrock. The carbon isotope pattern in the groundwater also implies that, besides the main springtime recharge events, contributions to the groundwater may also occur during late winter/early spring.

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Variations of Wood Anatomy and δ13C Within-Tree Rings of Coastal Pinus Pinaster Showing Intra-Annual Density Fluctuations

IAWA Journal ◽

10.1163/22941932-90001619 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 61-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Veronica De Micco ◽

Matthias Saurer ◽

Giovanna Aronne ◽

Roberto Tognetti ◽

Paolo Cherubini

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Composition ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Pinus Pinaster ◽

Sudden Change ◽

Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽

Tangential Direction ◽

Density Fluctuations ◽

Anatomical Characteristics ◽

Carbon Isotopic

We investigated the variation of wood anatomical characteristics and carbon isotopic composition of tree rings showing intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) in plants of Pinus pinaster Ait. growing at a coastal plantation in Tuscany (Italy). IADFs are regions of the tree ring where wood density changes abruptly due to a sudden change of environmental conditions, particularly of water availability. Dendrochronological analyses allowed dating of the rings and four regions were considered in each tree ring: earlywood, IADF, late-earlywood and latewood. Although IADF commonly has been classified as latewood-like tissue in the literature, we found differences in anatomical characteristics and carbon isotopic composition between tracheids of the two regions. The lumen area of tracheids in IADF was significantly larger than in latewood, while still smaller than in earlywood and late-earlywood. Latewood and IADF had a greater proportion of narrow tracheids than both earlywood and late-earlywood. Although latewood and IADF were characterized by tracheids with lumina lengthened in the tangential direction, while earlywood tracheids were elongated in the radial direction, some differences were found also between latewood and IADF. Moreover, IADF tracheids had a higher 13C/12C ratio than any other region and showed isotopic values significantly different from the latewood. The quantification of anatomical features of tracheids within rings was useful to discriminate between latewood and IADFs, as well as helpful for the identification of tree-ring boundaries. The overall interpretation of dendrochronological, wood anatomical and carbon isotopic data seems to be a promising approach for the dating and the ecological interpretation of tree rings in Mediterranean ecosystems and for gaining climatic information with intra-annual resolution.

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Stable carbon isotopic composition of tree rings from a pine tree from Augustów Wilderness, Poland, as a temperature and local environment conditions indicator

Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies ◽

10.1080/10256010410001671032 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 145-154 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Slawomira Pawelczyk ◽

Anna Pazdur ◽

Stanislaw Halas

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Composition ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽

Local Environment ◽

Stable Carbon ◽

Carbon Isotopic ◽

Pine Tree

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How to Calculate Isotope Ratios

Numerical Adventures with Geochemical Cycles ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195045208.003.0008 ◽

1991 ◽

Author(s):

James C. G. Walker

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Composition ◽

Carbon Isotopes ◽

Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽

Chemical Species ◽

Isotope Ratios ◽

Conservation Equation ◽

Rare Isotope ◽

Rates Of Change ◽

Carbon Isotopic ◽

Abundant Isotope

The calculation of isotope ratios requires special consideration because isotope ratios, unlike matter or energy, are not conserved. In this chapter I shall show how extra terms arise in the equations for the rates of change of isotope ratios. The equations developed here are quite general and can be applied to most of the isotope systems used in geochemistry. As an example of the application of these new equations, I shall demonstrate a simulation of the carbon isotopic composition of ocean and atmosphere and then use this simulation to examine the influence on carbon isotopes of the combustion of fossil fuels. As an alternative application I shall simulate the carbon isotopic composition of the water in an evaporating lagoon and show how the composition and other properties of this water might be affected by seasonal changes in evaporation rate, water temperature, and biological productivity. Equations for the rates of change of individual isotopes in a reservoir are not essentially different from the equations for the rates of change of chemical species. Isotopic abundances, however, are generally expressed as ratios of one isotope to another and, moreover, not just as the ratio but also as the departure of the ratio from a standard. This circumstance introduces some algebra into the derivation of an isotopic conservation equation. It is convenient to pursue this algebra just once, as I shall in this section, after which all isotope simulations can be formulated in the same way. I shall use the carbon isotopes to illustrate this derivation, but the same approach can be used for the isotopes of other elements, such as sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, or strontium. The most abundant isotope of carbon has a mass of 12 atomic mass units, 12C. A less abundant stable isotope is 13C. And much less abundant is the radioactive isotope 14C, also called radiocarbon. It is convenient to express the abundances of these rare isotopes in terms of ratios of the number of atoms of the rare isotope in a sample to the number of atoms of the abundant isotope. We call this ratio r, generally a very small number.

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