STUDY OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN ANNUAL SEGMENTS OF MOSS BIOMONITORS USING EPITHERMAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS: LINK WITH ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL

摘要

Concentrations of 32 elements were determined in annual segments of Hylocomium splendens, a moss species frequently used for monitoring of atmospheric trace element deposition, by epithermal neutron activation analysis. Leaves and stem were analyzed separately, and showed distinctly different element distributions. Typically the leaves had higher concentrations of elements derived from air pollution whereas the stems were enriched in essential nutrients and associated elements supplied from the local habitat. Comparisons of elemental distributions in moss from central Russia, Baikal Lake Basin, and Northern Norway to aerosol data from the same regions and to average elemental composition of woody plants, employing novel plotting techniques, served to further distinguish elements derived from air pollution from those mainly originating from natural non-atmospheric sources.