Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-13T22:47:53.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Tunguska Event as Recorded in a Tree Trunk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Hitoshi Yonenobu and
Chisato Takenaka
Hitoshi Yonenobu
Affiliation:
College of Education, Naruto University of Education, Naruto 772 Japan
Chisato Takenaka
Affiliation:
School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464–01 Japan
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

A living spruce tree was collected near the explosion center of the Tunguska event that occurred in 1908. We measured annual ring width and studied anatomical features to reconstruct the possible vegetational changes caused by the biological aftereffects of the Tunguska explosion. δ14C of annual rings from 1908 to 1910 was measured with a Tandetron accelerator mass spectrometer. The annual ring width decreased rapidly in 1908–1912, drastically increased in 1913, and decreased gradually thereafter. Traumatic resin ducts were observed in the transition zone between early- and latewood of the annual ring formed in 1908. We thus reconstruct these vegetational changes in the Tunguska forest: the Tunguska explosion damaged forest trees severely for ca. 3 yr, releasing rich nutrients from burned plants into the soil, and subsequently the vegetation was stimulated to recover by decreased socio-biological competition and better lighting conditions. δ14C values range from −28.2 to −1.5% for Tunguska spruce, and from −29.7 to 12.6% for Hinoki cypress. These fluctuations are within the ranges presented in Stuiver and Becker (1993), suggesting no evidence of anomalies of cometary origin in carbon isotopic composition. We found no significant difference between δ14C of Tunguska spruce and of Hinoki cypress.

Information

Type
Part 1: Methods
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 40 , Issue 1: 16th International Radiocarbon Conference 16-20,1997 Groningen , 1997, pp. 367 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Aoki, H., Yonenobu, H., Ikeda, A., Nakamura, T. and Wada, H. 1996 Possible estimation of global biomass from carbon isotopic fluctuation of atmospheric carbon dioxide using tree rings of Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl. Summaries of Researches Using AMS at Nagoya University 7: 284–299.Google Scholar
Chyba, C. F., Thomas, P. J. and Zahnle, K. J. 1993 The 1908 Tunguska explosion: Atmospheric disruption of a stony asteroid. Nature 361(7): 40–44.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. D., Alturi, C. R. and Libby, W. F. 1965 Possible anti-matter content of the Tunguska meteor of 1908. Nature 4987: 861–865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greguss, P. 1955 Identification of Living Gymnosperms on the Basis of Xylotomy. Budapest, Akademiai Kiado: 263 p.Google Scholar
Fengel, D. and Wegener, G. 1983 Wood: Chemistry, Ultrastructure, Reactions. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter & Co.: 613 p.Google Scholar
Hughes, M. K., Schweingruber, F. H., Cartwright, D. and Kelly, P. M 1984 July–August temperature at Edinburgh between 1721 and 1975 from tree ring density and width data. Nature 308: 341–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitagawa, H., Masuzawa, T., Nakamura, T. and Matsumoto, E. 1993 A batch preparation method for graphite targets with low backgrounds for AMS 14C measurements. Radiocarbon 35(2): 295–300.Google Scholar
Kolesnikov, E. M., Boettger, T., Hiller, A., Junge, F. W. and Kolesnikova, N. V. 1996 Isotope anomalies of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen in peat from the area of the Tunguska cosmic body explosion (1908). Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 32: 347–361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leavitt, S. W. and Long, A. 1989 The atmospheric δ13C record as derived from 56 pinyon trees at 14 sites in the southwestern United States. In Long, A., Kra, R. S. and Srdoč, D., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 469–474.Google Scholar
Lerman, J. C., Mook, W. G. and Vogel, J. C. 1967 Effect of Tunguska meteor and sunspots on radiocarbon in tree rings. Nature 216: 990–991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, T., Nakai, N., Sakase., T., Kimura, M., Ohishi, S., Taniguchi, M. and Yoshioka, S. 1985 Direct detection of radiocarbon using accelerator techniques and its application to age measurement. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 24: 1716–1723.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Becker, B. 1993 High-precision decadal calibration of the radiocarbon time scale, AD 1950–6000 BC. In Stuiver, M., Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Calibration 1993. Radiocarbon 35(1): 35–66.Google Scholar
Takeda, S., Sweda, T. and Yonenobu, H. 1992 Improvement and extension of existing dendrochronology by straddled logs back to 12th century. Tree Rings 5:18–26.Google Scholar
Vasilyev, N. V. and Andreev, G. V. 1989 On the necessity of international investigation into 1908 Tunguska event. The Journal of the IMO 17(4): 122–127.Google Scholar
Yonenobu, H. (ms.) 1994 Radiocarbon concentrations in tree stems. Ph.D. dissertation, Nagoya University: 109 p.Google Scholar