Carbon Isotope Composition of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide in Southern Poland: Imprint of Anthropogenic CO₂ Emissions in Regional Biosphere

Abstract

Southern Poland is home to numerous large mining and energy industry facilities, which consume relatively great amounts of fossil fuels. Temporal and spatial distribution of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere were estimated on the basis of 13C and 14C isotope measurements in atmospheric CO2 and in α-cellulose from pine tree rings. The Suess effect was evaluated in the atmospheric CO2 from the High Tatra Mountains (Kasprowy Wierch) and the urban area (Kraków), as well as in tree rings from Niepołomice Forest near Kraków. Two different models were used to estimate the emission component recorded in tree ring δ13C on the background of climatic changes.

Increase of radiocarbon concentration in tree rings from Kujawy (SE Poland) around AD 774–775

“…Width of the annual tree rings is in logarithmic scale. Rapid changes of stable carbon isotopic composition in treerings were observed in the middle 20th century by Pazdur et al [29] and interpreted as reflecting severe stress caused by human activities (fossil CO 2 emission). In our case the stress may be related to natural factors, such as rainfall, temperature and insolation.…”

Tree Growth and Climate Relationship: Dynamics of Scots Pine (Pinus Sylvestris L.) Growing in the Near-Source Region of the Combined Heat and Power Plant During the Development of the Pro-Ecological Strategy in Poland

“…The changes in the ecosystem can disturb the metabolism and physiological processes of trees, and consequently, they also have an effect on the wood structure (Schweingruber 1996 ; De Vries et al 2000 ). Climatic and anthropogenic signals can be recorded in tree ring width (TRW) and the isotopic composition of wood and its components (Schweingruber 1996 ; De Vries et al 2000 ; McCarroll et al 2009 ; Sensuła et al 2011 ; Sensuła and Pazdur 2013a , b ; Pazdur et al 2007 , 2013 ). The size of TRW reduction can be affected by the chemical composition of pollution and also depends on the distance from the pollution source (e.g., Wilczyński 2006 ; Elling et al 2009 ).…”

Semi‐automatic combustion of environmental and biological samples on Oxidizer M307 and equivalents: New solutions for background reduction

“…But if older/low‐level activity materials are measured at the time of processing or if they are different in the structure and composition to modern cellulose, then the excess trapped from the environment will disturb even much more by comparison with the lack of sufficient carbon dioxide as for the previous situation. The C‐14 contributions coming from different sources will have different ratios of C‐14/C‐12 and δ 13 C values …”