Yoon Soo Kim, Adya P. Singh
Micromorphological Characteristics of Compression
Wood Degradation in Waterlogged Archaeological Pine Wood
Summary
The degradation characteristics of waterlogged archaeological compression wood excavated in South
Korea were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning
microscopy (CLSM). Degradation of Pinus compression wood occurred mainly in the inner part of the
S2 layer. In contrast, the outer part of the S2 layer remained relatively intact. CLSM and TEM showed
the erosion type of bacterial attack to be dominant in the secondary cell walls of both severe and mild
compression wood. However, in some cases the middle lamella was also degraded, which suggests that
other forms of microbial attacks, such as bacterial tunnelling, were also present. Bacterial erosion in
the severe compression wood was mainly confined to the inner part of the S2 layer whereas in the mild
compression wood it also extended into the outer part of the S2 and the S1 layer. The extent of erosion
correlated to the differences in the amount and distribution of lignin, particularly in the outer S2 layer
between the severe and mild compression wood cells. These features are compared with the degradation
of normal Pinus wood.
Holzforschung, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 0018-3830
Volume: 53, 07/1999
Pages: 381 - 385
Show full article (external site)
Show all available items of this journal
Search
