Morphology and Chemistry of two Ancient Woods
Abstract
Wood specimens obtained from rubble ore in iron mines in northern Quebec were shown to be white pine of about 10 million years and probably redwood of about 100 million years. The ancient pine, 0.80 specific gravity, largely retained its structure, but had lost most of its carbohydrate material. Its residual cellulose was amorphous. The lignin was extensively demethylated, and there was evidence of condensed ring structures. In contrast, the older redwood, 1.24 specific gravity, was highly compressed and contained numerous resin beads in the strand and ray parenchyma cells. It consisted almost entirely of lignin, with about two-thirds of the methoxyl content retained, and there was no evidence of coalification.References
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