DISTRIBUTION OF INORGANIC ELEMENTS IN SUB-FOSSIL TOTARA WOOD

Distribution of inorganic elements in a specimen of 6000 year-old Totara wood recovered from a marine environment, was determined using a combination of backscattered electron imaging and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The following elements were detected: Na, Mg, Si, Cl, S, K, Ca, and Fe. The most abundant salts were tentatively identified as CaSO4, NaCl and FeS or FeS2. There was also evidence for an organic form of S, possibly a lignin sulphonate. Salt deposits were present in ray and axial parenchyma cells and in checks within tracheid cell walls.