Role of a Labile Terpene Compound in the Assessment of the Age of a Fossil Wood from Siena (Tuscany, Italy)
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G. Staccioli
Summary
Fossil samples of Pinus sylvestris found near Siena (Tuscany, Italy) in geological formations 2–3 million years old were chemically examined in order to solve the problem of the contrast between the age of geological formations and their good degree of preservation.
Comparison with a living Pinus sylvestris was carried out on standard wood component analyses, cation exchange capacity and residual terpene content. The analyses of wood components were close to those of the reference pine, whilst the cation exchange capacity values showed remarkable changes. The increase of salt carboxyls suggested the hydrolysis of ester carboxyls originally present, whilst the reduction of total carboxyls revealed a partial loss of hemicelluloses. Both changes were attributed to the percolation of salt-bearing water through the wood, thus causing ester hydrolysis, carboxyl salification and hemicellulose solubilisation. Residual terpene analysis showed, for the first time in a terrestrial fossil, tetrahydroabietic acid which forms by disproportion of the abietic acid. The 14C dating assigned the fossil to an age of about 18,000 years and suggested a landslide of Wurmian interglacial age occurred inside the geological formations of 2–3 million years old.
Transient terpene compounds, formed in incipient diagenesis, are proposed as tracers for the assessment of particular ranges of fossil age, as previously suggested by the analyses of both a Larix decidua 14,500 years old and a Picea abies 100,000 years
Copyright © 2000 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Species Index
- Author Index
- Contents
- Subject Index
- Yeast and Bacteria as Biological Control Agents Against Fungal Discolouration of Pinus sylvestris Blocks in Laboratory-Based Tests and the Role of Antifungal Volatiles
- Copper Accumulation in the Digestive Caecae of Limnoria quadripunctata Holthius (Isopoda: Crustacea) Tunnelling CCA-Treated Wood in Laboratory Cultures
- Chromated Copper Arsenate Preservative Treatment of North American Hardwoods. Part 1. CCA Fixation Performance
- Medium Density Fibreboard Manufactured from Blends of White Cypress Pine and Non-Durable Wood Species Shows Increased Resistance to Attack by the Subterranean Termite C. lacteus
- Role of a Labile Terpene Compound in the Assessment of the Age of a Fossil Wood from Siena (Tuscany, Italy)
- Neolignan Skeletons and Benzodioxanes Through Chiral Aryl Alkyl Ether Formation
- Use of β-13 C labelled Coniferyl Alcohol to Detect "End-Wise" Polymerization in the Formation of DHPs
- Bleachability of Alkaline Pulps. Part 1. The Importance of β-Aryl Ether Linkages in Lignin
- Solid State NMR Studies on Cellulose Crystallinity in Fines and Bulk Fibres Separated from Refined Kraft Pulp
- Pulping of Whole Jute Plant (Corchorus capsularies) by Soda-Amine Liquor
- Pattern of Alkali Impregnation of Poplar Wood at Moderate Conditions
- Structure and Reactivity of Lignins and Associated Phenolic Acids in Wheat Straw TMP and CTMP Pulps
- Thermal Reactions of N-Methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO): A General Method for Separation and Quantification of N-Methyl-morpholine-N-oxide and its Main Degradation Products N-Methylmorpholine and Morpholine by Capillary Electrophoresis (CE)
- The Kismet of Residual During LMS Delignification of High-Kappa Kraft Pulps
- Variations in Transverse Fibre Wall Properties: Relations Between Elastic Properties and Structure
- Application of the GAB Sorption Isotherm Model to Klinki Pine (Araucaria klinkii Lauterb.)
- Strain Changes on the Inner Bark Surface of an Inclined Coniferous Sapling Producing Compression Wood
- Effects of Chemical Modification Reagents on Acoustic Properties of Wood
- J.L. McCarthy In Memoriam
- Acknowledgement
Articles in the same Issue
- Species Index
- Author Index
- Contents
- Subject Index
- Yeast and Bacteria as Biological Control Agents Against Fungal Discolouration of Pinus sylvestris Blocks in Laboratory-Based Tests and the Role of Antifungal Volatiles
- Copper Accumulation in the Digestive Caecae of Limnoria quadripunctata Holthius (Isopoda: Crustacea) Tunnelling CCA-Treated Wood in Laboratory Cultures
- Chromated Copper Arsenate Preservative Treatment of North American Hardwoods. Part 1. CCA Fixation Performance
- Medium Density Fibreboard Manufactured from Blends of White Cypress Pine and Non-Durable Wood Species Shows Increased Resistance to Attack by the Subterranean Termite C. lacteus
- Role of a Labile Terpene Compound in the Assessment of the Age of a Fossil Wood from Siena (Tuscany, Italy)
- Neolignan Skeletons and Benzodioxanes Through Chiral Aryl Alkyl Ether Formation
- Use of β-13 C labelled Coniferyl Alcohol to Detect "End-Wise" Polymerization in the Formation of DHPs
- Bleachability of Alkaline Pulps. Part 1. The Importance of β-Aryl Ether Linkages in Lignin
- Solid State NMR Studies on Cellulose Crystallinity in Fines and Bulk Fibres Separated from Refined Kraft Pulp
- Pulping of Whole Jute Plant (Corchorus capsularies) by Soda-Amine Liquor
- Pattern of Alkali Impregnation of Poplar Wood at Moderate Conditions
- Structure and Reactivity of Lignins and Associated Phenolic Acids in Wheat Straw TMP and CTMP Pulps
- Thermal Reactions of N-Methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO): A General Method for Separation and Quantification of N-Methyl-morpholine-N-oxide and its Main Degradation Products N-Methylmorpholine and Morpholine by Capillary Electrophoresis (CE)
- The Kismet of Residual During LMS Delignification of High-Kappa Kraft Pulps
- Variations in Transverse Fibre Wall Properties: Relations Between Elastic Properties and Structure
- Application of the GAB Sorption Isotherm Model to Klinki Pine (Araucaria klinkii Lauterb.)
- Strain Changes on the Inner Bark Surface of an Inclined Coniferous Sapling Producing Compression Wood
- Effects of Chemical Modification Reagents on Acoustic Properties of Wood
- J.L. McCarthy In Memoriam
- Acknowledgement
