Synchrotron radiation analysis of a smelter impacted tree-ring sample

Dendroanalysis, the study of the element distribution in tree rings, suffers from the large number of analyses required to characterize the radial distribution of elements in a tree stem over a reasonable time period. Micro-Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence provides a promising approach since it is capable of interrogating stem sections corresponding to the order of 100 years of growth in a reasonable time. The Synchrotron Micro X-ray Fluorescence results presented here, representative of tree growth between 1895 and 1997, were obtained from a black spruce (Picea mariana) impact ed by air-borne metal pollutants from a metal smelter.