2004 Volume 110 Issue 1 Pages 11-18
Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) are formed from incomplete high temperature combustion of fossil fuels. Charcoal is generated from biomass burning. SCPs and charcoal are well preserved in sediments. In this study, we examined the moat sediment cores around Osaka Castle by SCPs and charcoal analysis, and reconstructed fire history and combustion history of fossil fuel. The results show that macroscopic charcoal concentration reached its peak in 1940s. These charcoal fragments were probably generated from bombing of Osaka city in World War II. Also, SCPs began to increase in the early 1930s and drastically increased in 1960s. These trends show the start of fossil fuel use in 1930s and energy conversion from coal to oil in the early 1960s around Osaka Castle. The feature and grain size of SCPs after 1960s are different from those before then, indicating that SCPs before and after 1960s were derived from different fossil fuels. SCPs and charcoal analysis are effective techniques for paleoenvironmental study during the era of the ‘Anthropocene (Crutzen, 2002)’, particularly aftter the industrial revolution.
